Ref: PR1854
Date: 21/07/08

Wakefield Council has welcomed the news that the Government has approved its bid to become one of the country's Housing Growth Points.

The Council's success means that it will go into a special partnership with the Government to build 240,000 new houses across the country each year to 2020 as set down in the recent Housing green paper.

The challenging target of three million new homes in Britain by 2020 aims to meet the needs both of first-time buyers and growing families, ensuring the right mix and balance of housing for the market and contributing towards achieving the aim of a home for all.

Homes built as part of the Housing Growth Point scheme will have to meet the Code for Sustainable Homes to reduce the carbon footprint of new housing and lead the way towards zero-carbon developments.

Cllr Denise Jeffery, Deputy Leader of Wakefield Council with responsibility for regeneration said: "We are delighted that our bid to be a Housing Growth Point has been successful. I am confident this will enable us to attract several million pounds-worth of funding to the district to create new houses to meet the growing demand.

"We know that people aspire to own their own homes but this is getting increasingly difficult, particularly for first-time buyers and people on low incomes.

"This new partnership arrangement with the Government gives us the go-ahead to develop and plan housing growth, supporting schemes which focus on sustainability and high quality design and which protect the environment and reduce carbon emissions.

"These really will be homes for the future - becoming a Housing Growth Point means we can build on our existing communities and infrastructure and continue to take our district forward.

The Council will now start work on more detailed development plans for housing across the district. The Housing Growth Point success means the Council will be able to bid for funding from the Government's Growth Fund and Community Infrastructure Fund. Plans for developments are expected to focus on Castleford and the Five Towns initially. Detailed proposals will be submitted to be the Government later this year.