HCA have shortlisted 256 construction jobs to fund
The Homes and Communities Agency has shortlisted 265 housing construction jobs, to fund from its Kickstart programme. The jobs will total around £550 million, which the HCA will fund, and a mix of local and national developers and Social Landlords have applied for the scheme. The project will create hundreds of jobs within the construction industry to help towards the builds.
The bidders had to have a detailed planning consent in place in order to qualify for the short list, having 50 homes planned for their new development.
This is the second round of bidding which has taken place for funding on the Kickstart programme, and more than 10,000 homes have already been built thanks to funding from the initiative. The Homes and Communities Agency have also already spend just under £360 million across the UK and is clearly seeing the benefits.
Chief executive of the HCA, Sir Bob Kerslake said: “Kickstart continues to be a crucial component in maintaining momentum in the house building industry. In this round we have seen a marked increase in requests for HBD funding and this indicates how the appetite for HBD has accelerated as an attractive option for first time buyers, which in turn is fuelling demand for homes. This shift in the bidding profile has enabled us to increase the target for HBD by a further 3,000 units next year, as set out in the PBR last week."
Earlier this week, the HCA was in discussion with four consortia to provide around £1 billion of funding for construction jobs related to the private rental sector.