£38 million funding pot up for grabs for community-led housing
LONDON
ASSEMBLY
LABOUR
Press office: 020 7983 4952
News release
17.01.2019
For immediate use
£38 million funding pot up
for grabs for community-led housing schemes
Local London Assembly Member, Jennette Arnold OBE AM, is calling upon community groups to bid for a share of a new £38 million community-led housing fund, launched by City Hall on Wednesday (16th January). Ms Arnold has praised the scheme and said that it “will put local people at the centre of tackling our housing crisis”.
Over the next four years, the London Community Housing Fund is set to deliver 500 community-led, genuinely affordable and social-rented homes across the capital.
The funding pot will be shared amongst successful projects to enable local residents to have direct involvement and oversight in the building and delivery of new homes, through co-operatives and community land trusts.
The new fund is one of the measures being taken by City Hall to kickstart the building of 116,000 genuinely affordable homes by 2022.
However, City Hall modelling shows that the Greater London Authority (GLA) still requires an injection of an additional £1.8bn more funding per year from the Government to meet the full-scale of the demand for affordable homes in the capital.
Local London Assembly Member, Jennette Arnold OBE AM, said:
“Though a small part of London’s overall housing mix, with the right support, community-led housing schemes can play an important role in delivering the genuinely affordable homes we need.
“I am delighted that this new funding will put local people at the centre of tackling our housing crisis, and I would urge as many community groups as possible to get their bids in.
“Despite the wide range of measures being taken by City Hall, there is a substantial funding deficit that the Government needs to urgently fill if we are to meet the full scale of the demand for homes in London”.
ENDS
Notes to editors
- On Wednesday 16th January, the Mayor of London announced the launch of a new £38 million fund to deliver community-led housing in the capital. The Community-Led Housing Prospectus can be found here;
- The Mayor of London has pledged to start building 116,000 genuinely affordable homes by 2022;
- The Greater London Authority (GLA) still requires an injection of £1.8bn more per year to meet the overwhelming demand for affordable homes in the capital. In October 2017, City Hall modelling recommended that the Government to increase funding for affordable housing alone in London to around £2.7bn a year. Since this time, the Government announced a further £1.67bn of funding over the next four years in the most recent Spring Statement. With funding levels now at approximately £900m a year, this still leaves a £1.8bn shortfall;
- Jennette Arnold OBE AM is the London Assembly Member for Hackney, Islington and Waltham Forest.
For more information please contact Research Support Officer, Eve Lovett, on 020 7983 5591. Number not for publication.