Housing Minister and Minister for the West Midlands Ian Austin MP has welcomed the news that the West Midlands is the biggest recipient of government funding to kickstart stalled construction sites, with 1,000 of the country’s 2,400 new homes so far approved coming from this region.

The praise comes as the West Midlands region of the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), the Government body delivering housing and regeneration with its public and private partners, has announced its progress six months into its first financial year in operation.

A staggering £280 million in the West Midlands has been allocated across the agency's National Affordable Housing programme this year, of which the HCA has spent over £140 million to date, with nearly 1,800 new homes completed.

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One programme in particular, which was devised specifically to resurrect stalled housing developments and speed up the rate of construction, is Kickstart. Housing Associations and private sector developers have gone through the first phase of bids, with around £19m now allocated in the West Midlands for the construction of over 1,000 new homes.

Kickstart sites are located across the region and vary in size and scale depending on local priorities. In Birmingham, the former Kalamazoo printing works in Northfield, will receive £1.7 million of Kickstart funding which will help unlock a further 50 homes. At Liberty Park in Coventry, nearly £300,000 has been granted towards unlocking 111 homes, while at Windsor Road, in Redditch, a former gas works site will be redeveloped, with a £3.2 million Kickstart contribution towards 162 new homes.

Mr Austin said: "We in the West Midlands were the first region too to produce a Housing Action Plan setting out how over £700 million will be invested across the region over the next two years, to provide new homes, save jobs in the construction industry and help local families and first time buyers desperate to get a home of their own.

"In previous recessions no help was provided whilst the housing market ground to a halt, now we're showing families we're on their side by providing the new homes they need."

(CD/BMcC)