Isos welcomes government's affordable housing investment boost

Submitted by on Mon, 7.07.08

Isos, a leading provider of affordable and supported housing in the North East, has welcomed a move by the Government to inject almost £300m of investment into social housing and provide the opportunity for social housing groups to buy unsold stock offered by private developers for affordable homes.

It is hoped that the announcement, made this week (Wednesday 2 July) by the Housing Minister Caroline Flint, will increase confidence in the struggling house building industry amid the current credit crunch. The Housing Corporation will now have the option to offer larger upfront payments to housing associations and other developers at the start of any affordable and social housing schemes.

In addition, a proposal was outlined for a national ‘clearing house’ to be set up where house builders can approach social housing providers to sell their unsold stock for affordable housing.

Keith Loraine, group chief executive of Gosforth-based social housing provider Isos Group, which manages over 12,000 homes across the North East, said: “This is a welcome announcement at a difficult time for the housing industry. With around 90,000 households on waiting lists across the region it is absolutely critical that we maintain levels of social housing development activity.  We need to remain flexible and develop innovative solutions in such a difficult market - ,any assistance the Government can provide to help us deliver our ambitious development targets is very welcome”.

The move will also help first time buyers, ensuring the delivery of affordable homes remains as high as possible and that building increases swiftly when the market starts to improve.

Announcing the plans, Caroline Flint, Housing Minister, said: “There is an overwhelming case for building more housing and we must remain as ambitious as possible. But we also have to be flexible and responsive enough to adapt to the current economic climate.”