Housing and Planning
Minister Alok Sharma has announced that the Planning
Delivery Fund is now open for bids and will support ambitious local
authorities and third sector organisations in areas of high housing need to
plan for new homes and infrastructure.
Initially opening up
£11 million of the fund, councils will be able to apply to help gain the skills
or capacity they need to deliver high quality housing growth at scale, pace and
implement wider planning reforms. The fund is aimed at encouraging more innovation
in the design quality of new housing developments, as well as provide design
advice and support to local authorities.
As part of the
government’s plans to raise housing supply to 300,000 per year on average by
the mid-2020s, a package of measure has been announced to boost local authority
planning capacity, support councils to take a proactive role in planning and
encourage ambition and leadership in the delivery of new communities.
Others measures
announced along with the £25 million Planning Delivery Fund include:
- a further £3 million funding
to support the delivery of the 14 garden villages that are part of the
government’s existing programme
- publishing a consultation on plans to allow the
creation of locally led New Town Development Corporations, and help speed
up the delivery of new garden towns.
Housing and Planning
Minister Alok Sharma said: "Locally-led developments have enormous
potential to deliver the scale and quality of housing growth that we need. By
supporting our local authorities, we will be able to unlock more homes where
people want to live.
"These measures
including the £25 million of government support which will help develop new
communities that will not only help deliver high-quality well-designed homes,
but will also bring new jobs and facilities and a boost to local economies."
Across England, the
government is currently supporting 24 locally-led garden cities, towns and
villages, which have the potential to deliver around 220,000 homes.
Backed by £16
million funding, a further £3 million has been allocated to 14 garden villages
in the programme to fund dedicated staff and studies and assessments that are
vital to the delivery of garden villages that are key to successful delivery.
The government’s housing
white paper in February 2017 committed to the creation of New Town
Development Corporations, which would be overseen by the local authority or
authorities covering the area proposed for a new garden community, rather than
by Whitehall. Government is now seeking views on this proposal.
