Government Launches House-building Programme

The Government has decided to start building houses. 

In a pilot project, to be launched today, the Government will commission up to 13,000 new homes on its own land. Up to 40% of which will be affordable or "starter" homes.

The project is designed to support smaller house-builders; so it is likely that local development firms will be best placed to win contracts to build the homes, once planning permission has been obtained.  

The sites selected for the new 'pilot' scheme are as follows:

• Connaught Barracks in Dover

• Northstowe in Cambridgeshire

• Lower Graylingwell in Chichester

• Daedelus on Waterfront in Gosport

• Old Oak Common in north west London

In a radical new policy shift, not used on this scale since Thatcher and Heseltine started the Docklands, the government will directly commission the building of homes on publicly owned land. This will lead to quality homes built at a faster rate with smaller building firms – currently unable to take on big projects – able to get building on government sites where planning permission is already in place. The first wave of up to 13,000 will start on four sites outside of London in 2016 – up to 40% of which will be affordable “starter” homes. This approach will also be used in at the Old Oak Common site in north west London.”