Joint ventures face housing delays
- Published: 28 August 2008 08:01
- Last Updated: 28 August 2008 11:59
Councils face delay and uncertainty over whether they can secure grants for pioneering housing joint ventures.
Croydon LBC said it is one of a number of councils which have been told by the Housing Corporation that it cannot register their applications to set up local housing company joint ventures with private developers.
An organisation cannot access social housing grant until it is registered with the corporation.
A corporation spokesman said registration could not proceed until new legislation had been passed, potentially after the new Homes & Communities Agency had been established.
"The current situation is that if an organisation trades for profit it cannot register with the corporation," he said.
But Croydon chief Jon Rouse described the corporation's explanation as "rubbish", and claimed the corporation had the powers to accredit private developers for social housing grant under powers introduced when was he chief executive, prior to joining the council. "They already register all sorts of profit-making bodies," he said.
He said that the delays in registering companies would deny councils access to the greater private borrowing available to private developers and registered social landlords.
