Housing Corporation News Release

Northern housing sector shows a real appetite for innovation

26/09/06 Media Contact: Sandra White 0207 393 2094      Ref: 95/06

The Corporation’s Northern Housing Challenge closed last week, attracting 73 entries totalling over £200m and oversubscribing the estimated allocation for 2008/10 by a factor of more than four to one.

Housing Corporation, Chief Executive, Jon Rouse, said: “I am delighted that the Challenge has caught the imagination of the housing sector in the North. As well as submissions from housing associations, we have also received proposals from  LSVTs, ALMOs and private developers.

There are some really exciting and high quality proposals that have been put forward for consideration. It shows that there is a real appetite and lots of new ways of thinking on delivering affordable homes and contributing to the Northern economy.

The proposals put forward could generate or sustain well over 7,000 homes and create as many as 3,000 jobs in the North of England.”

The Northern Challenge Team and North Field colleagues now face a busy eight weeks of detailed assessment of the wide ranging entries. An announcement will be made in November of the proposals the Corporation will work up for inclusion in the 2008/2010 programme.

Further info on the Challenge will be published on the Corporation’s website at
www.housingcorp.gov.uk

Ends.

Note to editors:

• The Northern Housing Challenge was launched by Housing Corporation Chief Executive, Jon Rouse, in June.  Supported by the DCLG and by housing partners in the three northern regions, the Northern Housing Challenge is designed to find new housing-led projects which will help shrink the North’s annual £30 billion output shortfall compared to the South.

• The Housing Corporation is the Government agency responsible for investing in new affordable homes and regulating nearly 2,000 housing associations across England.  Its biggest ever investment programme of £3.9 billion for 2006-08 will fund 84,000 homes;  49,000 of these will be for affordable rent, and 35,000 will be for affordable sale through the Government's new HomeBuy initiative, helping people to get a foot on the property ladder.