Birmingham City Council has given a lukewarm welcome to the Government's new proposals on how more than £500m worth of planning and housing grant will be distributed over the coming three years.

While welcoming a new planning regime which will reward authorities who plan land use and housing provision over the long term, the council has expressed concern that £316m worth of grant allocation is tied to housebuilding targets unfairly skewed against major urban areas.

Cllr Neville Summerfield, Cabinet Member for Regeneration, explained: "Under the proposals authorities will only be able to access this housing grant if they build a number of new homes each year which is equivalent to more than 0.75% of their existing stock.

"As the largest local authority in the country the number of homes we must build before we become eligible for grant support is obviously far greater than other councils, totalling in excess of 3,000 additional properties per year.

-- Advertisement --

"Additionally, the Government has stated that new or regenerated homes which replace existing out-of-date properties can not be counted towards the target. This proposal clearly discriminates against urban authorities in favour of those within a more rural setting who have significant areas of greenfield land within their boundaries."

Details of the new grant allocation system are contained within the Department of Communities and Local Government’s (DCLG's) 'Housing and Planning Delivery Grant' proposals, which are currently out to local authorities for consultation and response.

The consultation period on the proposals will close on January 17 with the final revised system expected to be introduced for the 2008/9 financial year.

As well as expressing concerns about the way housing targets are formulated the council has also urged the Government to introduce clauses which reward, and attribute grant for, quality of design and bringing empty homes back into use.

Cllr John Lines, Cabinet Member for Housing and Chairman of the Regions Housing Executive: said: "Due to the housing grant requirements being significantly increased the funding available to local authorities across the entire region has been reduced by 28%. One effect of this may be that urgent work needed to meet decent homes standards in some areas may be delayed for many years."

(JM)