£55m Homes England grant funding to boost development of 4,000 homes

Homes England has agreed funding deals with 12 local authorities to deliver 4,000 homes across England. 

The £55m funding has been awarded through the government’s £450m local authority accelerated construction (LAAC) programme, and will support local authorities with a range of work required to prepare their sites for the development of new homes such as infrastructure enabling works, planning and technical expertise and site remediation.

The LAAC programme prioritises the use of modern methods of construction which, says Homes England, will “increase the pace of delivery across the developments by an average of 40%.”

The latest funding announcement includes deals with local authorities from across England:

North: City of York Council, Gateshead Council, Newcastle City Council, Pendle Borough Council;

South: Eastleigh Borough Council, Medway Council, Dorset Council;

Midlands: Leicestershire County Council, High Peak Borough Council, City of Lincoln Council;

East: Borough Council of King’s Lynn & West Norfolk, South Norfolk Council;

Minister of state for housing, Kit Malthouse, said: “We haven’t built enough homes in this country for far too long and our accelerated construction programme is here to change that - and fast. This £55m funding boost will help councils get 4,000 new homes built across the country using the latest modern methods that cut down on construction time. We must keep building more, better, faster to meet our ambition to building 300,000 homes a year by the mid-2020s.”

Stephen Kinsella, executive director for land at Homes England, said: “This funding will enable local authorities to accelerate housing delivery by enabling them to prepare sites for development and bring forward the construction of new homes incorporating modern methods of construction.”

The first of the developments is due to start on site later this year.