Pledge to address housing funding

HOMES: A senior Minister has promised to change the way funding is handed out for housing infrastructure projects after being challenged by an MP over the “inherent unfairness” of the current system.

Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick promised to “bear in mind” criticisms of the Housing Infrastructure Fund.

A SENIOR Minister has promised to change the way funding is handed out for housing infrastructure projects after being challenged by a Yorkshire MP over the “inherent unfairness” of the current system.

Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick promised to “bear in mind” criticisms of the Government’s Housing Infrastructure Fund ( HIF), where a large majority of the money is allocated to London and the South East.

Thirsk and Malton MP Kevin Hollinrake questioned Mr Jenrick over the scheme in the Commons and asked whether “we need to address the inherent unfairness in the operation” of the fund.

In March housing experts warned that Yorkshire and the rest of northern England are being “frozen out” of vital homebuilding schemes because of funding criteria which favour London and the South East.

It is feared that without investment in housing in the North imbalances in the UK economy will continue to deepen, making it harder to retain talent, attract investment and increase productivity. Housing associations across northern England have teamed up to call for the so- called ‘ 80: 20 rule’ to be scrapped.

Rules designed to tackle the over- heating housing market in and around the capital mean the vast majority of northern councils are not eligible to bid for 80 per cent of funds handed out by Homes England to help them build new homes.

Homes For The North ( H4N), which represents 17 housing associations across the region, cites the £ 2.3bn HIF designed to help build up to 100,000 homes, which had seen just £ 23.4m handed out to the entire Yorkshire and the Humber region. By contrast it says North Kent has received £ 219m despite having a much smaller population.

Mr Hollinrake asked fellow Conservative Mr Jenrick if he agreed “that we need to address the inherent unfairness in the operation of the housing infrastructure fund, which allocates 80 per cent of its budget to London and the south- east and only 20 per cent of it to the rest of us?”

Mr Jenrick said and Mr Hollinrake “have agreed on this point for some time”. He added: “The housing infrastructure fund directs funding to those areas where there is the greatest affordability challenge. That is important, in some respects, but any Government who wants to level up must also direct infrastructure investment for housing to other parts of the country as well. I will certainly bear that in mind as we design the successor to the housing infrastructure fund later this year.”