£500m to help build 11,000 new homes, including rooftop properties

The government is providing £500m to help housing associations build 11,000 affordable new homes, including some ‘rooftop’ properties.

The funding boost will help the government towards its target of building 300,000 properties a year by the mid-2020s.The associations will have the freedom to spend the money on developments where it can have the biggest impact.

A small number of the homes will be built on London rooftops. The properties – which will be built on five sites across the capital – are largely constructed off site before being winched on top of buildings, minimising disruption to residents.

The government’s revised planning rulebook encourages authorities to promote the use the airspace above existing residential and commercial premises for new homes. The first of the rooftop homes will be completed by the summer.

The project will be overseen by Homes England, the new housing delivery organisation that has been created to adopt a more commercial approach to respond to the long-term housing challenges facing this country.

The new, expanded agency will play a far bigger role in investing in supply and intervening in the market to help deliver 300,000 homes a year by the middle of the next decade.

Homes England Chairman, Sir Edward Lister said: “Our new ways of working with the sector means that housing associations can use their funding flexibly across their development programmes and respond quickly to local housing demand and a changing market.

Homes delivered will be priced within the Help to Buy threshold to help support more people into home ownership. The project is being funded from the government’s £4.5 billion Home Building Fund.

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