Government provides cash break for builders

THE Government will today announce plans to build nearly 180 homes in a Yorkshire town in the first phase of a "new deal" scheme to release publicly-owned land.

Developers will be offered the chance to build 178 homes in Bentley, Doncaster, and will only have to pay for the land – owned by the Homes and Communities Agency – once the properties are sold.

After a massive fall in the number of homes built during the recession, the Public Land Initiative aims to speed up construction by removing the upfront costs and risks for developers.

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Ministers hope the scheme – which will also see homes being built on HCA land in Milton Keynes and a regional development agency plot in Newcastle – could encourage new types of housebuilder to come forward.

Housing Minister John Healey, MP for Wentworth, said: "The last year has been tough for everyone. Every business, household and individual has had to respond to the pressures and to rework the plans and budgets we had before the recession. But we have proved that, with the power of public investment and Government action, we can get through.

"We have to innovate and test new ways of funding and building the homes we need. So I'm offering a new deal for public-private housebuilding, with new partnership terms in which companies take a smaller profit because Government takes more of the risk by lowering costs and increasing competition in housebuilding.

"I am now looking to new companies to bring a new competitive edge to the industry," he said.