Information from Liverpool City Council
When the Government released the details of its Affordable Homes Programme in February 2011 it indicated that funding of £100 million would be set aside to tackle long term empty properties. The intention is that the funding will bring 3,300 homes back into use.
The funding will be allocated by the Housing and Communities Agency (HCA) to Registered Providers of Social Housing and smaller not for profit community and voluntary groups. An intermediary organisation will be established to assess bids from the voluntary sector. Further guidance is to be provided on this.
It will be available to be used to bring empty homes and other types of property into use as affordable housing. Existing social housing is not eligible for the funding.
The size of the programme will depend on the level of demand and so the Department for Communities and Local Government want to make sure that as many organisations as possible know about it.
This matter was considered by Liverpool City Council’s Housing and Community Safety Select Committee on 3 January. The Chair of the Select Committee, Councillor Steve Radford and the Cabinet Member for Housing, Councillor Ann O’Byrne were both keen to support community and voluntary organisations wishing to take advantage of this opportunity. The Select Committee recommended that organisations in Liverpool should be made aware of the potential availability of funding.
Further information and bidding guidance is available on the Homes and Communities website.
For further information, contact Tony Mousdale, Divisional Manager (Housing Strategy and Investment) at Liverpool City Council, at anthony.mousdale@liverpool.gov.uk.