MP backs £680m housing plan
A Staffordshire Labour MP has given his backing to a government plan to invest more than £680 million in the West Midlands for more affordable homes.
Cannock MP Tony Wright has welcomed the announcement last week that will see £686.5 million invested in creating cheaper homes. Across the region there is a shortage of cheap homes for single people and families who are unable to get a foot on the property ladder. The problems have been made worse by the instability in the housing market and the worldwide credit crunch.
This announcement will be widely supported by councils across the region having to explore new ways of creating cheaper homes.
Mr Wright said: "The Government is serious about providing more homes and more affordable homes locally. I know that first time buyers and working families in Cannock Chase will welcome this investment in decent homes."
He added: "This funding will underpin the continuing commitment to ensure all local authority owned social rented housing stock achieves the decent homes standard by 2010 and to secure significant improvements in private sector housing." The West Midlands funding is part of the Regional Housing Pot through which £10.4 billion will be invested in housing over the next three years.
This funding will help meet the Housing Green Paper commitment to provide at least 70,000 affordable homes a year by 2010-11, of which 45,000 will be social rented homes. For existing housing, around £2 billion will be used to improve stock condition. In Cannock Chase the district council has approved a plan to sell redundant garages and to inject millions of pounds into projects to build new houses.
The council has said it will grant £25,000 for every affordable house on a private development and £50,000 for housing association projects.
