New fund launched for community housing projects in England

COMMUNITY housing projects in England (outside of Greater London) are being invited to apply for support from a £4m funding pot.

Says the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government about the England-only initiative (here): “Today’s new grant programme, launched by Housing Minister, Christopher Pincher, gives community-led housing groups better access to high-quality, affordable housing that meets the needs of local communities.

“The money will help community groups meet a range of costs incurred in trying to develop housing. This could include paying for searches, administration costs or legal advice, design work and planning applications.”

The programme – which is not being made available to groups just forming – is to be managed by Community Led Homes, a partnership of four leading community-led housing organisations: Confederation of Co-operative Housing, Locality, National Community Land Trust Network and UK Cohousing Network.

Adds Community Led Homes (here): “The grant will fund pre-development work so that schemes can complete the work required to progress the scheme towards: submitting a planning application, and/or submitting a capital funding bid, and/or getting to start on site.”

Picture credit: Place Design Scotland