By Eric King-
A multi-million-pound support package to deliver thousands of discounted homes was launched by Housing Minister Kit Malthouse MP on Saturday.
The support package will be open to volunteer groups to apply from Monday for between £10,000 and £50,000 to identify suitable sites for discounted homes, and get planning permission.
The initiative is part of a government plan to make £8.5 million available for a 3 year pilot project aimed at providing cut-price homes for younger people and families in need of housing, through locally-led neighbourhood plans. n 2018, the Institute Of Fiscal Studies revealed that 40% of young adults could not afford to buy one of the cheapest homes in their area even with a 10% deposit.
It also revealed that house prices in England have risen by 173% over two decades. The Ministry Of Housing says it is trying to improve affordability for young people, by providing discounted homes.
Minister of State for Housing, Kit Malthouse MP, said:
Supporting volunteers who are passionate about building more of the homes we need in their communities is something I’m fully behind, and I want to see far more people getting involved across England.
This funding is on top of the £26 million already available to help get neighbourhood plans over the line, which act as powerful tools for communities to be involved in the planning of their local area – providing different housing types for those who need new homes.
Discounted homes are properties built for people to buy at affordable rates, allowing them to secure mortgages in areas of the country where they are currently locked out of the market by high prices. For example, a 3-bed home from the Cornwall Community Land Trust was recently sold at a discount for local people, for a price of £160,000, which is compared to an average property price in the county of over £230,000.
The funds launched today forms part of a wider package of measures and targeted investment to produce more homes, building on ongoing government action to achieve a system which delivers 300,000 properties a year by the mid 2020s.