Get Britain Building fund to restart building of 1,300 new homes

The funding is intended to aid the delivery of 1, 300 new homes at the stalled sites and regenerate local areas. All of schemes are still subject to due diligence and contracting issues and have been identified as the "most difficult stalled sites in the country", according to Shapps.

The 18 projects are called ‘Commissioned Schemes’ under the Get Britain Building Programme - csv (1KB). 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 Get Britain Building programme is to restart housing developments that have received planning permission but have stalled due to difficulties in accessing development finance. It was first announced in the Government's housing strategy last year.

The overall £420 million fund is expected to restart the building of up to 16,000 homes on sites by 2014. It is administered by the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA).

The HCA received 170 "expressions of interest" in the fund by the closing date on 30 January 2012, many of which included requests for multiple schemes.

These expressions of interest will now undergo an initial assessment by the HCA, which will look at value for money, deliverability and fit with local priorities, and a shortlist of schemes is expected by mid March.

"The HCA will be taking a robust commercial approach working with local authorities to invest in the right schemes that deliver the greatest benefits for local communities and the industry," said Pat Ritchie, HCA chief executive.