Wednesday, 16 May 2012

Shapps: Revamped Right to Buy to Deliver Thousands of New Homes

Details of how thousands of new affordable homes will be built using the cash proceeds from the Right to Buy scheme have been unveiled by Grant Shapps.  The Minister said he was responding to appeals by local authorities for more time to take advantage of the new scheme by allowing them three years, instead of two, to reinvest the funds they gain from additional sales into new housing. He said councils now have a "prime opportunity" to refresh their housing stock.  Under the new, light touch agreement between Whitehall and Town Halls, councils will have the opportunity to keep receipts from additional Right to Buy sales and the freedom to spend the cash as they see fit to meet local housing demand. Councils will have the freedom to:
    *decide on the type, size and location of the new homes they build according to local needs
    *work with other organisations such as housing associations to finance and deliver affordable homes for their area; or
   * pass the cash to Whitehall to help deliver one-for-one replacement at a national level.
Read more on the CLG website.

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