Government pledges £83 million for first-time buyers and housebuilding jobs

Housing Minister John Healey has announced that the government is to put £83 million towards building 5,700 new and affordable homes. This house building was stalled by the recession and the minister says it is now back on track.

Low cost homes for sale across every region of the country are getting support through the government's HomeBuy scheme - which has already helped over 130,000 families buy their first home.

The cash will also get struggling housebuilders building homes again safeguarding over 1,700 jobs. The minister says he has already given 141 projects mothballed by the recession cash to get back on track and workers are back on site on many of these.

Healey has made it a requirement that those housebuilders receiving funding must provide apprenticeships and opportunities for local workers. He says this money will give 99 additional young people the chance to learn the building trade.

This support is not a handout though and much of the money is expected to be repaid within five years. Developers have had to pass stringent value for money assessments carried out by the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) to prove that the money is well spent.

As part of the government's drive to make new homes cleaner and greener, priority has been given to those schemes which are set to meet high environmental standards, with the overwhelming majority of successful schemes meeting at least Level 3 of the Code for Sustainable Homes.

Healey said: "We're putting the weight of government investment into building much-needed affordable homes, keeping people in work and giving young people a chance of apprenticeships.

"That's why I'm allocating £83 million to get 87 stalled developments across the country up and running again, creating 1,700 jobs and giving more than 2,200 first-time buyers the chance to take an affordable step onto the property ladder.

Healey has now allocated more than £3.6 billion for housebuilding since June, funding nearly 68,000 new homes, starting the largest council housebuilding programme for two decades and freeing up public land for housing.

Chief executive of the HCA, Sir Bob Kerslake commented: "With over 6,000 new and affordable homes now on their way to being completed through Round 1 of the Kickstart programme, this second round of funding will now help many more schemes to get back on track.

“The due diligence process for selecting these successful projects has been rigorous, assessing factors such as value for money, design, local fit and sustainability to help ensure the homes meet the needs of the people who will live in them."

The full list of successful projects for Kickstart funding is available from the Homes and Communities Agency and can be found at: www.homesandcommunities.co.uk/kickstart-round-two.