Developer backs calls for £100bn housing fund

Developer backs calls for £100bn housing fund



Developer and affordable homes provider Aster Group has backed a new report which suggests that a £100bn fund could provide tens of thousands of homes..


In the study ‘Going to scale: How a National Housing Fund can unlock Britain’s housebuilding capacity’, think-tank ResPublica argued that a decade-long fund could provide up to 75,000 new homes each year.

The fund would help SME developers to build homes which can be rented out by housing associations to key groups such as nurses, fire fighters and young professionals.

These homes would then be available to purchase after five years of renting.

Aster claimed that this rental system would prevent the fund from impacting on existing sales by developers.

Bjorn Howard, chief executive of Aster, said: “We’re passionate about being part of the solution to the UK’s housing crisis and are working towards our vision of everyone having a home, so we were pleased to be able to support the production of this report.

“Tackling the huge shortfall in housing across Britain will take partnership working and innovative thinking, which is why we think initiatives like our joint venture partnerships and commitment to shared ownership are so important.

“For these reasons we welcome ResPublica’s report and hope the idea of a National Housing Fund will further stimulate the housing debate and innovative ways of alleviating the shortage of high-quality, affordable homes across Britain.”

The news comes just a week after the Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond announced a £2.3bn housing infrastructure fund to help deliver up to 100,000 homes.

The government estimates that Britain needs at least 200,000 new homes each year.

Last year, just 143,500 new homes were built.



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