Housing Corporation News Release

05 June 2008         ref: 38/08

Two housing associations appointed to manage distribution of the Corporation's £50,000 IGP Grant to tackle overcrowding

Bradford Community Housing Trust and Peabody Trust have been appointed by the Housing Corporation to manage distribution of its £50k Innovation and Good Practice (IGP) Grant to tackle overcrowding, it has been announced.

The Housing Corporation announced last month that it was seeking expressions of interest from housing associations operating in the pathfinder areas identified in the Government's Tackling Overcrowding Action Plan. The Plan announced  38 local authority pathfinder  areas covering London, Birmingham, Leicester, Leeds, Manchester and Liverpool.

Bradford Community Trust will distribute the grant for the associations in Bradford, Birmingham, Leicester, Manchester and Liverpool and Peabody Trust will cover associations in 33 London Boroughs. 

The grant is available to help the associations in the 38 pathfinder areas to carry out assessments of the level of overcrowding in their housing stock. The data will contribute towards assessment of the true scale of overcrowding in the housing associations stock and help measure impact of the implementation of the Statutory Bedroom Standard.

Key tasks for the housing association managing the IGP grant will 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.

Housing associations in the pathfinder areas wishing to apply for a portion of the £50k  grant are advised to contact Bradford and Peabody Trusts respectively to discuss the details of available funds.  The contacts are:

Peter Webley, Bradford Community Trust
email: peter.webley@bchtgroup.org;  

Jenny Scott, Peabody Trust
email: jenny.scott@Peabody.org.uk

For more information contact Gera Drymer, Policy Manager at
gera.drymer@housingcorp.gsx.gov.uk 

Ends.

For more press information please contact Sandra White on 0207 393 2094

Notes to editors:

1)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 who provide some two million homes across England.

2) The Corporation's £8 billion investment programme for 2008-11 is its biggest ever, set to fund at least 155,000 homes.  Over  100,000 of these are for affordable rent and more than 50,000 for affordable sale through the Government's HomeBuy initiatives, helping people get a foot on the property ladder.

3) The Housing Corporation is working with Communities and Local Government and English Partnerships to establish the proposed Homes and Communities Agency and social housing regulator.