£50,000 available to housing associations to help tackle overcrowding
Housing Corporation News Release
6 May 2008 31/08
£50,000 available to housing associations to help tackle overcrowding
The Housing Corporation is seeking expressions of interest from eligible housing associations to manage a £50,000 IGP grant to help tackle overcrowding.
The grant supports the December 2007 launch of the Governments National Overcrowding Action Plan that announced 38 local authority led overcrowding pathfinder areas covering London, Birmingham, Leicester, Manchester and Liverpool.
The grant will be used to help associations in the pathfinder areas to carry out assessments of the level of overcrowding in their housing stock. Through the data collected the program aims to assess the true scale of overcrowding and look toward replacing the existing statutory definition of overcrowding with the Bedroom Standard.
Key tasks for the housing association managing the IGP grant would include:
• administration of the grant;
• securing the commitment of housing association eligible areas to participate in the exercise;
• allocate the agreed proportion of grant to participating associations;
• monitor the progress of data collection;
• ensure participants submit data to relevant local authorities;
• collate data and forward to the Housing Corporation;
• collate learning and best practice in monitoring overcrowding.
For more information on expressions of interest housing associations should contact Gera Drymer, Policy Manager on gera.drymer@housingcorp.gsx.gov.uk
For more press information please contact Nicole Davey on 0207 393 2118
Notes to editors:
1) Housing associations eligible for receiving and managing the IGP grant must be in the 38 identified pathfinder areas
2)The Housing Corporation is responsible for regulating housing associations, which provide some two million homes across England.
3)The Housing Corporation is the Government's national affordable homes agency, responsible for investing in new affordable homes and regulating nearly 2,000 housing associations across England. The Corporation's £8.4 billion investment programme for 2008-11 is its biggest ever. Its previous investment programme of £3.9 billion for 2006-08 is funding 84,000 homes; 49,000 of these are for affordable rent, and 35,000 are for affordable sale through the Government's HomeBuy initiatives, helping people to get a foot on the property ladder.
4) The Corporation announced £3.3 billion allocations on 26 February 2008. This is 38% of the NAHP 2008-11 budget of £8.4 billion across the three-year programme and includes new allocations and existing commitments which will deliver completions in 2008-11. The new allocations total £2.1 billion, including £300 million for Open Market HomeBuy and £1.8 billion for new build homes for affordable rent and affordable sale. Allocation for specialist housing for older people is £125 million, providing 1,900 homes for affordable rent and 500 homes for affordable sale.
5) The Housing Corporation is working with English Partnerships and Communities and Local Government to establish the proposed Homes and Communities Agency and Office for Tenants and Social Landlords.
