09 January 2009
By Neil Merrick The government is on course to allocate all the money it set aside for buying up unwanted private homes by the end of March. Housing minister Margaret Beckett announced on January 6 that six housing associations will share £18m to buy 379 properties from a leading house builder. The sale of the properties by Bovis Homes takes the total number of homes purchased by registered social landlords from private builders since July to 4,800. It is the second deal to go through a national clearing house run by the Homes and Communities Agency, because it involves more than 250 homes. Just £40m of the £200m set aside by ministers last summer has still to be allocated, although the government insists that it will dip further into the three-year National Affordable Housing Programme, worth £8.4bn, if necessary. Beckett said the Bovis deal will provide quality new homes for rent or sale to families on council waiting lists. ‘We are determined to support house builders to weather the current difficult climate,’ she added.
PFjan2009
