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7 February 2005
The first stage of the Government’s programme to help key workers and first time buyers onto the property ladder has taken a major step forward, Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott announced at the Delivering Sustainable Communities Summit today.
The London Wide Initiative (LWI) will deliver four thousand high quality homes on disused brownfield land, half of which will be affordable homes for key workers and first time buyers.
English Partnerships (EP) – the Government’s national regeneration agency - has signed Heads of Terms with the three development and management partners (DMPs) selected to take forward the Initiative – Countryside Properties, First Base Partnership and Key London Alliance.
John Prescott said:
“I am delighted that by making the most of our public sector assets, and pooling our skills and resources, we can deliver affordable homes without sacrificing quality. It’s not a one-size fits all policy – it’s about combining high design standards with a cost effective and innovative approach to construction."
The aim of the LWI is to combine high quality design, modern construction methods, cost efficiencies and speed of delivery. With the DMPs sharing the risks of the development process with EP and spreading the costs and returns across the portfolio, the LWI should enable a more efficient and cost effective delivery of homes.
The Mayor of London Ken Livingstone also announced last week that he would contribute additional sites to boost the delivery of the First Time Buyers Initiative launched by Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott in the ODPM five year plan Homes for All. This was in response to Mr. Prescott’s call to local authorities and other public bodies to use their own assets to deliver more affordable homes for first time buyers.
Mayor of London Ken Livingstone said:
"Today's announcement really kick starts the London Wide Initiative into delivering affordable homes on a greater scale than we have ever seen before. As we move forward the challenge now is to make sure that we deliver not only affordable but quality homes that their owners can be proud of. I am very pleased that we can speed up this initiative by making available more land under my control for new affordable homes."
Chair of English Partnerships Margaret Ford said:
“This is a major step towards successfully delivering the London Wide Initiative programme and ensuring a better deal for key workers and first time buyers. The additional sites pledged by the Mayor of London are a huge boost.”
Each DMP aims to develop a minimum of one thousand homes as part of the pilot phase of the Initiative. Schemes for the first three sites are at an advanced design stage, with starts on site anticipated this summer.
English Partnerships has so far acquired a mixed portfolio of fifteen sites across the capital ranging from the former Catford Greyhound Stadium in south London to Adelaide Wharf in Hackney. Each site will include a mix of open-market sale as well as low-cost ownership and rental homes with the aim of delivering a total of up to four thousand homes over the next five years.
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Information correct as at 04/08/2008