Housing minister Yvette Cooper's plans to plough £510m into councils and communities to tackle the housing shortage have been met with a lukewarm response. Ms Cooper said the Government aimed to reward councils and communities building new homes and bringing empty properties back into use. The funding, she said, was in addition to the £10.2bn investment in affordable housing over the next three years. The announcements include new rules and incentives so only councils with ‘robust strategies' for reducing the numbers of empty homes will have access to the funding; clarification that outdated regional housing targets should not be treated as a ceiling on local authorities; and more cash for councils which are identifying good sites for homes. Sir Simon Milton, chairman of the Local Government Association recognised it was a ‘significant injection of cash', but had a warning for the Government. ‘What is now necessary is the need for funding the roads, public transport, schools and hospitals needed to make sure we do not build desolate dormitories, but places where people can live and work,' he said. The British Property Federation was keen to point out the money was not new. ‘This is money previously outlined three weeks ago, and before that, in the housing Green Paper,' a spokesman said. Director Ian Fletcher said any measures to make developments easier and improve communities were welcome, but more immediate solutions for those who could not afford to buy or wait for social housing were needed. The Government plans to build 240,000 homes a year by 2016. Last week, the National Housing and Planning Advice Unit said the Government should instead build 270,000 new homes a year to avoid a greater housing crisis.
