Communities across
England are set to benefit from thousands of new, better-designed homes thanks
to an £8 million cash boost, Housing Minister Rt Hon Esther McVey MP has
announced.
A total of £6
million will be allocated to help new locally-led garden towns and villages
progress plans to deliver up to 200,000 new homes.
An additional £1.9
million will be given to councils in England to support new neighbourhood
plans, allowing communities to get involved and have their say on the types of
homes that are built and where.
Neighbourhood
planning has been incredibly popular at the local level since it was introduced
it in 2011 with nearly a million votes cast for neighbourhood plans and over
2,600 different communities coming forward with proposals.
The funding
allocation builds on the government’s commitment to giving communities a voice
on the development in their areas, including prioritising local brownfield land
while protecting the green belt.
Housing Minister Rt
Hon Esther McVey MP said: "Communities have the local insight to decide
what new homes should look like and the kind of infrastructure they need in
their area. This is what neighbourhood planning is all about, so I’m pleased
this funding will ensure that the right homes are built in the right places.
"I am also
announcing extra cash to deliver new vibrant garden communities, which will
help deliver tens of thousands of well-designed new homes for hardworking
families."
The funding will
support local authorities to deliver neighbourhood plans by:
- providing advice and
expertise to communities that want a neighbourhood plan
- organising an independent
examination of draft plans
- hosting local referendums
that give communities a final say on these plans
- supporting communities who
want to deliver new neighbourhood plans but have not been able to
Twenty-one garden
towns and villages already in the pipeline across England will receive a share
of £6 million to progress their proposals towards delivering up to 200,000 new
homes.
The cash injection
will mean homes get built that otherwise would not. This is because it will be
used for preparing environmental assessments and using the latest design
techniques to develop areas people will be proud to be a part of.
The latest new
garden community to receive backing from the government will be built at
Wynyard, which has already received £150,000 and will make it the largest new
settlement in the North East, delivering up to 6,800 new homes.
