The Government said in a statement that the scheme will enable 5,000 empty homes to be refurbished and brought back onto the market over the next three years.
Bids are invited from a range of organisations including councils, housing associations, community and voluntary groups. High street regeneration groups are also invited to bid and the Government said it will prioritise the 27 'Portas Pilot' towns and 326 town team partners.
“Empty homes blight communities, attract crime and rats and deprive people of available housing," Foster told delegates and the Empty Homes Week conference. "What’s worse this is a vicious circle - one derelict home brings an area down and can lead to more and in places whole communities have been destroyed. I am determined quite literally to stop the rot."
“This extra money will help communities refurbish empty and abandoned homes, bring in new residents, provide desperately needed extra affordable housing for families and regenerate communities,” he said.
Recent Government figures showed that the number of empty homes is already decreasing, having dropped from 300,000 in 2009 to 259,000 in 2012.
“Tackling empty homes remains a key priority for the Agency," said Homes and Communities Agency chief executive Pat Ritchie. "I welcome this additional funding, which has an emphasis on helping to bring empty commercial and non-residential back into use as affordable housing, and will build on the work we are already doing to bring long-term empty homes back into use through our Affordable Homes Programme.
“We will be working with our local partners to help meet local need and in doing so, support their efforts to tackle homelessness and regenerate neighbourhoods that are suffering from the blight of empty homes and help to prevent neighbourhood decline.”
The Government first announced plans for the £300m funding in September as part of its major planning and housing reform. It said that guidance for bidders will be published "shortly".
