29 Mar Councils Given Power To Build More Homes
Councils in England will be given greater freedom to help them build homes for first-time buyers, a recent Government press release has said. The money councils receive from selling homes through the Right to Buy scheme can now be spent on new affordable housing schemes.
The Right to Buy initiative helps eligible council and housing association tenants in England buy their home with a discount of up to £112,300, or £84,200 outside London. Councils will now be able to use the money from homes sold through the scheme to put back into local community housing.
This could be in the form of building homes for shared ownership, First Homes and housing at affordable rents. The new plans announced by the Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick are intended to help towards the government target of delivering 300,000 new homes a year across England by the mid-2020s.
Mr Jenrick commented: “I have listened to local authorities who responded to our consultation on the use of Right to Buy receipts and I am delighted to announce a package of reforms providing authorities with the flexibilities they need to develop ambitious build programmes and help get people on the housing ladder.”
The plans have been welcomed by the chairman of the Local Government Association, James Jamieson, who has called for the reform previously. Councils will now have an extended time of five years instead of three to spend Right to Buy receipts. The cap on the percentage cost of new homes has been increased from 30% to 40%.
The receipts can now also be used to build shared ownership properties, and First Homes and affordable and social housing. There will also be a new cap on the use of Right to Buy receipts for acquisitions, making it a more attractive prospect for councils to commission new-builds.
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