Huge investment planned for affordable housing
An extra £1.5bn will be invested in delivering 20,000 new affordable energy efficient homes in the next two years, according to new plans unveiled by ministers.
The cash is expected to create up to 45,000 new jobs in construction and related industries, kick-start stalled housing schemes and deliver a further 10,000 private homes.
Ministers are planning to improve access to social housing by giving people more choice over the type of properties available. They will also change rules for allocating social housing by allowing councils to give priority to local residents and those that have spent a long time on waiting lists.
The announcements were part of the government’s new Building Britain’s Future plan.
Ruth Davison, National Housing Federation director, said: ‘The government has at last recognised that the current allocations policy is unfair, and we look forward to working with ministers to create a system that is fair and flexible.
‘What we need is a guarantee that a proportion of homes in each area will be given to specific groups – for instance low income couples – so that a wider range of people would have a chance of getting an affordable home.’
Ministers also announced plans to support high-tech companies through a new £150m Innovation Fund, aiming to attract £1bn of private sector cash.
Jonathan Kestenbaum, chief executive of the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts, an independent body working to foster innovation in the UK, welcomed the news, adding: ‘These companies are on the verge of collapse owing to an absence of capital.
'This initiative needs to get capital urgently into the system and must not get snarled up in bureaucracy.’
Other plans include:
- a personal tutor for every pupil at secondary school, with catch up tuition for those who need it
- publishing a feasibility study for a new north-south high speed rail line in the coming year
- developing a national cycle plan to promote cycling as a mainstream form of transport
- providing broadband access for all residents by 2012 and working towards a nationwide high speed broadband network by 2016
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