THE Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead (RBWM) will not be taking a slice of an £8.6 billion government scheme to build more affordable homes, the council confirmed.

Recently, the Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government announced a new funding package for nearly 90 partnerships, including housing associations, private providers, and local authorities, to bid for.

This cash injection will make owning a home more “realistic and affordable” and help families get on the property ladder.

The £8.6 billion allocations will deliver properties including 57,000 homes for ownership, 29,600 for social rent, typically around 50 per cent to 60 per cent of market rates, and 6,250 affordable rural homes.

The remaining homes will be available for “affordable” rent, officials said.

 

Housing minister Robert Jenrick

Housing minister Robert Jenrick

 

Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick said: “This huge funding package will make the ambition of owning a home a reality for families by making it realistic and affordable.

“We are also ensuring tens of thousands of new homes for rent are built in the years ahead, including social rent, so those on the lowest incomes can enjoy good quality, secure, rented homes, built and managed by reputable providers.”

The Local Democracy Reporting Service asked the council if they or the RBWM property company is bidding to take a slice of the funding after it adopted a new housing strategy, which seeks to help more young people get on the property ladder, earlier this year.

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A council spokesperson said: “This funding has already been allocated. Money is given to partners by Homes England and, unfortunately, the council is not a registered provider of social housing and, therefore, could not be involved in the bidding process. We are looking into ways for the RBWM Property Company to access this funding in future.

“We are pleased that our close partner Abri has secured £250 million from this fund.

“Our approved Housing Strategy 2021-26 was developed around three key objectives; delivering new homes, promoting health and wellbeing, and supporting vulnerable residents to obtain and sustain appropriate accommodation. This includes the delivery of affordable housing.

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“We want to be a borough that delivers new homes not only for those coming into the borough, but for those who are already here. We want to be a Borough that seeks to proactively support people by having a mixture of different homes with a mixture of affordability.”

According to the RBWM spokesperson, the council has delivered 244 affordable homes in the past five years, including 85 in 2020/21.