NW Growth Point housing areas awarded £31m
Housing Minister Margaret Beckett today announced that six areas in the North West will share more than £31m to help developers build 150,000 homes in the next eight years – over and above the existing targets set out in this autumn's Regional Spatial Strategy.
Six local authorities will share in the national Growth Point pot over the next two years as follows:
- Greater Manchester will receive more than £12.2m to help build 67,572 more homes than previously planned by 2016
- Liverpool and the Wirral, £6.3m, to build 26,460 homes
- Central Lancashire and Blackpool, £5.3m for 20,079 homes
- Halton, St Helens and Warrington, £4m, to deliver 18,756 homes
- Carlisle will receive £131,089 to help build 5,400 homes
- West Cheshire, £3.4m, to help build 14,553 homes
Sir Bob Kerslake, chief executive of the Homes & Communities Agency, the awarding body, said: "This funding will play a significant part in helping growth areas deliver not only more homes, but the vital infrastructure that is needed to underpin new communities. Through our Single Conversation model we will be working closely with these local authorities to support them, not only in the delivery of growth, but to create a single investment plan that will successfully bring forward local goals in a more integrated way.
"As part of that Single Conversation we will be looking at how the economic downturn might impact on the timing and delivery of growth proposals and how the HCA can assist in maintaining and, where possible, increasing the momentum of growth and renewal programmes locally."
The HCA will soon announce which local authorities will get a share of £200m to pay for transport improvements through the Community Infrastructure Fund.
