Liverpool City Council is calling on local organisations to take advantage of a new Government initiative and help build a better future for housing in the city.

The council is updating its housing strategy for 2012 - 2015 to take account of the national Self-Build scheme. The council is supporting the scheme, which was launched by Housing Minister Grant Shapps last November, and which aims to encourage more individuals and community groups to build their own homes.

A £30 million pot of cash has been made available for organisations – including community groups, registered charities, community land trusts and companies which are registered as industrial and provident societies - who are able to satisfy the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) that they are able to deliver their self-build projects.

Local authorities are not eligible to apply for funding but can work with eligible applicants to support their projects, and Liverpool City Council is keen to hear from local organisations who are interested in working with the council on self-build schemes.

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The city council is also exploring the possibility of freeing up a number of council sites which can be used by local organisations for home building. Further details on the sites will be announced in the near future.

Liverpool City Council's Cabinet Member for Housing, Councillor Ann O’Byrne, said: "We want to do all we can to stimulate the growth of our housing market and encourage self-sufficiency. Supporting local organisations with self-build projects is a part of that.

"This funding provides a great opportunity for small builders, developers, charitable organisations and community groups in Liverpool to get their projects off the ground. Such projects have an important part to play, sitting alongside the other major projects within our housing delivery programme.

"We don't want local people to miss out on this opportunity, which is why we will be building support for self-build schemes into our housing strategy, freeing up council sites for organisations to build their own homes, and supporting groups who want to bid for funding."

The national scheme - the first of its kind in the UK - aims to double the size of the self-build sector by making land available, encouraging lenders to offer more finance products for those building their own home and simplifying regulations. The Government hopes it will help self-builders develop a quarter of a million additional homes over the next decade.

The £30million funding will offer tailor-made support for self-build groups, providing short-term loans for self-build projects and helping fund land acquisition, planning and early development costs, with money repaid on completion of projects.

(CD)