Mayor announces new £40m ‘Social Housing Accelerator Fund’

Mayor Richard Parker’s mission to drive the biggest social housing programme the West Midlands has seen in decades has been handed a £40m boost.

During a visit to a new social housing scheme in Coventry the Mayor announced that he will directly fund the delivery of 1,000 new social homes.

The decision follows a call by the Mayor to be given greater flexibility over the funds he inherited on taking office last year.

Restrictions placed by the previous government on housing funds meant they could not be directly spent on affordable and social housing.

The Mayor will now use the new £40m Social Housing Accelerator Fund to convert 1,000 properties that are ready for occupation, under construction or soon-to-be-built, over to social rent homes – the most affordable type of home available. This is on top of over 750 social homes the Mayor has already unlocked.

The new fund comes as latest figures show there are 7,450 households, including 14,976 children, currently living in temporary accommodation across the West Midlands and 65,335 households on the region’s social housing waiting lists.

The Mayor said: “By cutting red tape, we have opened up £40m to bring forward 1,000 social rent homes across the West Midlands - that's 1,000 families whose lives will be changed. 

“In total, we have approved or secured enough funding in just 15 months to bring forward over 1,750 new social homes - a significant step towards fixing our region's housing crisis.

“That figure means something, because it’s real peoples’ lives, we’re changing. But we still have too many people waiting too long for a safe, warm and secure place to call home and too many lives, including those of thousands of children, are being blighted as a result.”

Investment in more housing, especially affordable homes, is set to be a key issue for discussion at the Regional Investment Summit being held in Birmingham on October 21.

The summit, which is being co-hosted by the Chancellor, Mayor and Secretary of State for Business and Trade, will give the West Midlands and other regions the chance to showcase to global investors their potential for growth, innovation, and talent. 

The Mayor has also set a target for the region to be building 2,000 social homes a year by 2028, as part of his ‘Homes for Everyone priority’.

And, since being elected in May last year, he has used WMCA funding to unlock derelict industrial sites, often referred to as brownfield, to provide more than 1,200 affordable homes including over 750 homes for social rent - more than all the social rent homes the WMCA has ever previously unlocked.

The Mayor met tenants living in new social rent homes at a Midland Heart housing association scheme on the site of the former London Taxi Company factory in Holyhead Road, Coventry. A total of 87 new homes are being built - 58 of which will be social rent and 29 for shared ownership.

Social rent tenant David Hopper, 42, told the Mayor how he had been homeless for two and a half years following the death of his mother and a family fallout.

His situation was made worse by his own health problems and the loss of his job as a toolmaker during Covid. He lives on the Holyhead Road development with his two dogs, Honey and Lucky.

David said: “I’ve been here for about five months, and it’s changed my life.

“I was homeless while trying to deal with my own health problems, losing my mum, and my job. I was trying to rebuild my life and kept failing because I couldn’t move on without my own home. I now have one less thing to worry about and this is going to give me the strength to go forward.

“I used to struggle to sleep but since I’ve been here, I sleep much better and that helps me focus. It feels like everything’s coming together.”

Sue Khan, another Midland Heart social rent tenant, told how she found herself at ‘rock bottom’ and in need of a safe place to call home after the breakdown of her long-term relationship.

The former bank manager and café owner said: “I came out of a long-term relationship, and I didn't know which way to turn.

“But now I've got somewhere I feel safe, secure and happy. My favourite memory is walking into here and feeling it was my secure zone. I’ve gradually made it my own home, and I love it.”

Joe Reeves, deputy chief executive of Midland Heart, said on behalf of the West Midland Housing Association Partnership (WMHAP), which is made up of 18 local housing associations: “We welcome the creation of the Mayor’s new Social Housing Accelerator Fund.  As a result of this new funding, hundreds of homes built across the West Midlands will be let at social rent, making homes even more affordable for tenants on low incomes. 

“Housing associations, like Midland Heart, will continue to work with the Mayor and WMCA to ensure that new ways are found to build the affordable homes our region needs. Over the last year the partnership has delivered over 7,500 new affordable homes most of which are family homes that have gone to families on council waiting lists.”

In delivering the Social Housing Accelerator Fund, the Mayor will work closely with local councils, Homes England and housing associations, like those represented by the WMHAP, to directly fund the delivery of new homes for social rent, topping up existing grants provided by Homes England through the Affordable Homes Programme for affordable rent homes. 

Building more homes on brownfield land is a cornerstone of the Mayor’s recently launched Growth Plan to drive a new era of prosperity in all parts of the region.

The Plan sets out a roadmap for the creation of 100,000 good jobs in fast-growing industries, getting tens of thousands of residents into work, improving public transport and building 120,000 homes.

While the Mayor is committed to driving the construction of more affordable housing, he has put a strong focus on social rent homes as these can have the biggest impact in getting people out of temporary accommodation and off housing waiting lists.

Alongside the £40m Social Housing Accelerator Fund the WMCA’s remaining housing funds will continue to be used to clean up and unlock more brownfield sites for developers to use for new residential-led schemes.