It has been a busy month within the Property & Housing sector in the lead-up to Christmas. Various large funding projects have been announced such as a £4bn fund for new affordable homes, a £12bn fund for green energy, and a £4bn ‘levelling up’ fund announced by Rishi Sunak.
In the housing market homeowners have been freed up to sell with the withdrawal of the requirement of the EWS1 form, and the New Help to Buy: Equity Loan Scheme has started doing business enabling many first-time buyers to get on the property ladder.
This has all happened under the spectre of a prospective shrinking UK economy, as the long-lasting effects of the COVID 19 crisis become more apparent. The council house waiting list is now at two million people, and charities predict that 2021 will see large numbers of evictions. A new £170m COVID Winter Grant Scheme has been announced to help local councils stop children going hungry during the second wave of the pandemic.
Sadiq Khan Announces £4bn Affordable Homes Programme
The London mayor has announced his plans for a new generation of social housing across the capital. The affordable home programme (AHP) will help build thousands of new social housing homes between 2021 and 2026.
This will result in the delivery of 82,000 new homes from April 2021. Housing providers wishing to bid for funds from the new AHP will have to meet a series of conditions on building safety and design.
These include the installation of sprinklers or other fire suppression systems in new blocks of flats and a ban on combustible materials being used in external walls for all residential development, regardless of height.
Firms will also be required to meet minimum floor-to-ceiling heights and a requirement for private outdoor space, as well as a ‘sunlight clause’ requiring all homes with three or more bedrooms to be dual aspect.
See this link for more information.
Prime Minister Announces £12bn Fund For 250,000 New Green British Jobs
The Prime Minister’s ‘Green Industrial Revolution’ is set to create jobs in clean energy, transport, nature, and innovative technologies, to help the UK eradicate its contribution to climate change by 2050.
The plan will use £12 billion of government investment, and will be built around ten points:
1. Offshore wind: Producing enough energy from offshore wind to power every home in Britain, supporting up to 60,000 jobs.
2. Hydrogen: Creating 5GW of low carbon hydrogen production capacity by 2030.
3. Nuclear: Developing nuclear as a clean energy source, supporting 10,000 jobs.
4. Electric vehicles: Backing car manufacturing bases in the West Midlands, North East, and North Wales to accelerate the production of electric vehicles.
5. Public transport, cycling, and walking: Promoting cycling and walking as travel methods
6. Jet Zero and greener maritime: Research projects for zero-emission planes and ships
7. Homes and public buildings: Making homes, schools and hospitals more energy efficient, creating 50,000 jobs by 2030 and installing 600,000 heat pumps by 2028.
8. Carbon capture: Developing technology to capture and store harmful emissions away from the atmosphere.
9. Nature: Planting 30,000 hectares of trees every year.
10. Innovation and finance: Developing the technologies needed to reach these new energy ambitions.
See this link for more information.
Housing Associations, Banks, And Investors Collaborate On First Sustainability Reporting Standard for Social Housing
More than 35 HAs and 27 banks and investors have become early adopters of the standard in a move that they hope will help the sector unlock billions of pounds of environmental, social and governance (ESG) investment from both new and existing sources.
The standard includes 48 criteria across 12 core themes: affordability and security; building safety and quality; resident voice; resident support; placemaking; climate change; ecology; resource management; structure and governance; board and trustees; staff well-being; and supply chain management.
The hope is that the voluntary standard will provide consistency across the sector in terms of ESG reporting, thereby attracting greater investment in the sector from new sources of finance, such as ethical investment funds.
See this link for more information.
£40m Pounds of Additional Green Funding Announced
The £40m Green Recovery Challenge aims to create up to 3,000 jobs and safeguard up to 2,000 others in areas such as protecting species, finding nature-based solutions to tackling climate change, conservation rangers and connecting people with nature.
The fund was launched in September, and on Saturday 14th of November, the Government announced a further £40m would be made available to it.
See this link for more information.
New £170m COVID Winter Grant Scheme Announced
This money will be distributed to councils to stop children going hungry during the second wave of the pandemic – with at least 80% of it being used to help families pay for bills and provide food for children over the holidays.
The Government has also confirmed the Holiday Activities and Food programme will be expanded across England next year, while Healthy Start scheme payments will increase from £3.10 to £4.25 a week from next April.
See this link for more information.
The Road Safety Trust offers up to £200,000 to Support Innovative Road Safety Technology
Local authorities are now able to apply for grants to fund projects that explore how technology can reduce road offending and improve road safety.
The Road Safety Trust, a road safety charity, will open its Main Theme Programme to applications on 25th February.
Grants are available for up to two or three years depending on the programme and can range from £10,000 up to £200,000. Since it was established in 2014, the Road Safety Trust has awarded grants worth £3.7m to 49 different projects.
See this link for more information.