17 February 2015
A new £6 million funding boost could allow more people to propose self build and custom build projects up and down the country.
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Communities Minister Stephen Williams today announced the cash injection to the Community Rights programme which plans to give even more people greater control and influence over what happens locally; particularly where homes should be built and what they should look like. This new funding will mean 100 new communities receiving support to take the first steps in identifying important local issues and developing Community Action Plans.
A new contract has also been awarded to Locality, with URS-AECOM, a leading planning consultancy, and a number of other specialist sub-contractors including Design Council/CABE, the Royal Town Planning Institute and Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, to help support communities in Neighbourhood Planning and the Community Right to Build under the Community Rights in 2015 to 2016.
Neighbourhood Planning enables local communities to shape the places where they live. Residents are directly able to decide what type of development is needed, where it should go and what it should look like; providing opportunities to suggest self build and custom build schemes. More than 1,200 neighbourhood plans are already underway.
The total contract value to 2018 is £32 million. For 2015 to 2016, the total value of the six contracts is £15.2 million. This includes today’s new allocation of £6 million and a previously announced £9.2 million funding pot for Neighbourhood Planning.
Tony Armstrong, Chief Executive Officer of Locality, said: “The support and funding available to communities gives us the opportunity to reach many more people and build on the successes of past programmes. We’ll be helping groups to take over land and develop neighbourhood plans. We want to make it as easy as possible for people to get started and in some of the most deprived communities.”
