Government pledges £93m for stalled London schemes

The government will put £93m into kick starting five stalled London regeneration developments over the next year.

The Homes and Communities Agency will put the money into the Aylesbury Estate in Southwark, the Heart of Greenwich scheme in east Greenwich, St Andrew's hospital in Tower Hamlets, Woodberry Down in Hackney and a site on Holloway Road to sell homes to key workers through the agency's London Wide Initiative.

The funding is part of a £135m package for the capital which could provide 7,500 homes, half of which will be affordable.

Mayor Boris Johnson also announced a new scheme, First Steps, to help first-time buyers.

London & Quadrant's UpToYou scheme, which is part of the initiative, allows people to rent their homes for up to 80% of the market rate and choose whether to buy later. A pilot of the scheme will provide 500 homes initially but could help 900 more to be built.

Sir Bob Kerslake, chief executive of the Homes and Communities Agency, said: “We're doing everything we can to get projects moving and deliver well-designed homes for Londoners. Our flexible investment approach means we're able to respond quickly and effectively to bring forward affordable housing that would otherwise not get built.This funding package for kick starting developments will keep regeneration activity moving and provide the housing market with a much-needed confidence boost.”

L&Q chief executive, David Montague said: “The HCA's planned investment in our new package of UpToYou sites has given L&Q the confidence to start construction that would otherwise be mothballed. L&Q is working with other housing organisations to test the scalability of this initiative so that many more mothballed sites can be started.”