PLANS for the biggest social housing programme the West Midlands has seen in decades has been handed a £40million boost.
During a visit to a new social housing scheme in Coventry West Midlands Mayor, Richard Parker, announced that he will directly fund the delivery of 1,000 new social homes.
The decision follows a call by the Mayor to be given greater flexibility over the funds he inherited on taking office last year.
Restrictions placed by the previous government on housing funds meant they could not be directly spent on affordable and social housing.
The Mayor will now use the Social Housing Accelerator Fund to convert 1,000 properties that are ready for occupation, under construction or soon-to-be-built, over to social rent homes – the most affordable type of home available. This is on top of over 750 social homes the Mayor has already unlocked.
The new fund comes as latest figures show there are 7,450 households, including 14,976 children, currently living in temporary accommodation across the West Midlands and 65,335 households on the region’s social housing waiting lists.
The Mayor said: “By cutting red tape, we have opened up £40milion to bring forward 1,000 social rent homes across the West Midlands – that’s 1,000 families whose lives will be changed.
“In total, we have approved or secured enough funding in just 15 months to bring forward over 1,750 new social homes – a significant step towards fixing our region’s housing crisis.
“That figure means something, because it’s real peoples’ lives, we’re changing. But we still have too many people waiting too long for a safe, warm and secure place to call home and too many lives, including those of thousands of children, are being blighted as a result.”
Investment in more housing, especially affordable homes, is set to be a key issue for discussion at the Regional Investment Summit being held in Birmingham.
The summit, which is being co-hosted by the Chancellor, Mayor and Secretary of State for Business and Trade, will give the West Midlands and other regions the chance to showcase to global investors their potential for growth, innovation, and talent.
The Mayor met tenants living in new social rent homes at a Midland Heart housing association scheme on the site of the former London Taxi Company factory in Holyhead Road, Coventry.
A total of 87 new homes are being built – 58 of which will be social rent and 29 for shared ownership.
Social rent tenant David Hopper, 42, told the Mayor how he had been homeless for two and a half years following the death of his mother and a family fallout.
His situation was made worse by his own health problems and the loss of his job as a toolmaker during Covid. He lives on the Holyhead Road development with his two dogs, Honey and Lucky.
David said: “I’ve been here for about five months, and it’s changed my life.
“I was homeless while trying to deal with my own health problems, losing my mum, and my job. I was trying to rebuild my life and kept failing because I couldn’t move on without my own home. I now have one less thing to worry about and this is going to give me the strength to go forward.
“I used to struggle to sleep but since I’ve been here, I sleep much better and that helps me focus. It feels like everything’s coming together.”
Building more homes on brownfield land is a cornerstone of the Mayor’s recently launched Growth Plan to drive a new era of prosperity in all parts of the region
While the Mayor is committed to driving the construction of more affordable housing, he has put a strong focus on social rent homes as these can have the biggest impact in getting people out of temporary accommodation and off housing waiting lists.
