Community Investment Programme ensures Camden meets housing target
Latest Government figures show that Camden is exceeding nationally-set targets for housebuilding thanks to the Council’s Community Investment Programme.
3,263 new homes were built in Camden between 2015-2018 – 179 more homes than its target of 3,084 – according to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG).
Camden Council has built 862 homes since 2011 through its Community Investment Programme, with 120 currently under construction and a further 1,250 homes with planning approval ready to build. Between 2015-2018, it built 15% of new homes in Camden.
Over a third of councils nationally have been ordered to produce an action plan demonstrating how they will increase delivery.
While Camden is not required to produce such a plan, Councillor Danny Beales, Cabinet Member for Investing in Communities at Camden Council, today stated that all responsible parties, and not just councils, need to take their share of responsibility to tackle the housing crisis.
These are pleasing figures, and we can be proud that the Council’s direct delivery approach to building its own council housing and living rent homes is making a significant contribution to providing the housing Camden badly needs.
“We need to question why such a large number of councils are failing to make these targets – and whether it is fair to lay all the blame solely at local government’s door following nearly ten years of austerity and huge Government cuts to their funding. Brexit uncertainty, rising construction costs, a stagnating property market – all of these factors are adding to the housing crisis.
“We are a borough that builds, but we want to build more and at a faster rate as we have over 5,600 households on our waiting list for a council house. To do so, we need Government backing so we can scale up our operation and start building the schemes we have planning permission for.
Through its Community Investment Programme, Camden Council is building 1,100 council homes, 300 genuinely affordable homes to rent, investing in 53 schools and children’s centres and providing 9,000m2 of improved community facilities, the equivalent of 35 tennis courts.
Find out more on the Community Investment Programme website.