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Housing Minister John Healey today
announced a further 265 stalled housing
developments shortlisted for a share of up to
£550m to help get building work on over 22,400
homes back on track and support up to 12,000
jobs, including 1,000 apprentices.
This is the second round of special
Kickstart funding and follows £450m already
released to build 11,500 homes, with the first
of nearly 10,000 workers already back on
site.
Projects in every region could benefit from the
second round of Kickstart funding announced
today, which comes on tough terms. 50% of
funding is recoverable by government and every
developer must provide schemes for local labour
and apprenticeships.
And with half of the 22,400 shortlisted homes
set to be for affordable rent or sale this is a
boost for First Time Buyers and prospective
housing association tenants - a commitment made
in last week's Pre-Budget report.
All the projects will now go through a
rigorous final assessment by the Homes and
Communities Agency (HCA) to determine which
will get the green light. As this funding is
intended to support the housebuilding industry
when it needs it most Mr Healey has made clear
that one of the key factors will be the ability
to complete building work by March 2012.
Mr Healey said: "Today I am announcing a
further 265 projects shortlisted for a share of
up to £550m. This second round of Kickstart
funding could build 22,400 homes, support
12,000 jobs, train as many as 1000 apprentices
and build a further 11,000 affordable
homes.
"We are using the power of government
investment to build homes and support jobs at a
time when the housebuilding industry needs it
most.
"I'm making it a condition of getting this
government money that all builders offer
recruitment of local people and apprenticeship
schemes. This means opportunities for 1,000
extra apprentices. With this money we're
kickstarting stalled developments, supporting
new jobs, training future generations of
construction workers and building the quality
homes we need."
All of these will be subject to due diligence
to further test their deliverability, risk and
financial position.
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