Cooper unveils £500m housing package

The government has revealed plans to provide around £500 million worth of funding to help quicken the pace of house building across the country.

The money, part of the Housing and Planning Delivery Grant designed to help first-time buyers and families get onto the property ladder more easily, will be given to those councils that are shown to be speeding up the delivery of new housing and available land.

In order to do so, councils must identify five years' worth of sites on which housing can be built immediately, and a ten years' worth for future development.

"This money is about extra support for the councils which are already doing their bit," commented housing minister Yvette Cooper.

"Some of them are doing a lot of work to support additional housing, but we know that others really need to do more.

"I want this new cash injection to push local authorities to raise their game," Ms Cooper added.

Responding to the announcement, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said that the government should have placed more emphasis on developing local infrastructure.



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