Get Britain Building fund three times oversubscribed, says Shapps

The Government received 176 expressions of interest for the £420 million Get Britain Building scheme, which is aimed at restarting stalled housing developments that have planning permission. It was first announced in the Government's housing strategy last year.

The Government has chosen an initial 18 schemes to receive funding, subject to the completion of satisfactory due diligence and contracts. Each scheme would receive a share of £45m to aid the delivery of 1,300 new homes on stalled residential sites.

The schemes that have been chosen for the funding have been identified as the "most difficult stalled sites in the country," according to Shapps.

"This excellent response to our programme puts us in a strong position to take forward those schemes which offer the very best value for money, make the biggest difference locally, and can re-start on site quickly," said Pat Ritchie, chief executive of the Homes and Communities Agency. "The link between housing and economic growth is well established, and in ensuring delivery of 16,000 new homes, investment through the Homes and Communities Agency will also help create new jobs and local economic activity."

The 18 projects are called ‘Commissioned Schemes’ under the Get Britain Building Programme (1KB spreadsheet document). The largest of these includes the first phase of a mixed-use development on Bristol Harbourside, comprising 175 homes, and two phases of the regeneration of the Grahame Park estate in Colindale, London, comprising 127 homes.

The aim of the scheme is to restart housing developments that have been granted planning permission but stalled due to difficulties in accessing development finance. The overall £420m fund is expected to deliver up to 16,000 homes on sites by 2014.

"With the Prime Minister putting housing centre stage in the road to economic recovery we are pulling out all the stops to get the jobs created and the red tape cut to ensure we get the homes this country needs built. I am greatly encouraged by the clamour from developers large and small to get Britain building by applying for a share of our £420 million fund to unlock stalled sites across the country," said Shapps.