The housing sector gets a £400m government deal, which will see 2,000 new homes built across key cities while providing thousands of jobs
Housing is set to gain a boost following a new multi-million pound government deal. The announcement was made by Housing Minister Gavin Barwell yesterday, and will see £400m of development unlocked while increasing the amount of quality rental homes.
The deal forms part of the government’s programme to invest in purpose built rental properties in the major cities of Leeds, Manchester and Birmingham.
The Home Building Fund
It forms one of the largest investments in the private rental sector in the UK and will receive £45m funding from the government’s Home Building Fund. This was set up during the Autumn Statement to make money available to help kick-start new development and housebuilding.
Housing and Planning Minister Gavin Barwell said: “Alongside home ownership, we’re determined to create a bigger, better private rental market to offer greater choice for tenants in a country that works for everyone.
“This is one of the largest private rental sector deals in the UK and will not only create thousands of homes for people in Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester – it will create jobs and opportunities for many hundreds of people.”
Up to 1,500 new construction jobs could be created
The project is to be led by national developer Dandara Group, with support from the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) and HSBC. The government estimates as a result of the project some 1,500 new construction jobs could be created across the three cities.
The deal will provide 2,062 rental homes, with 995 to be built in Manchester, 744 in Leeds, and 323 in Birmingham.
Founder and chairman of the Dandara Group Dan Tynan said: “Dandara has already built more than 2,500 properties of this type in the last 10 years in the UK, including Scotland’s largest private rented sector (PRS) scheme of almost 300 properties in Aberdeen, acquired by LaSalle Investment Management on behalf of a large pension fund.
“We are now in a position to actively work with institutions, and independently, to make a sizeable contribution to this market.”
