DCLG issued some interesting news just before the Jubilee weekend – £17 million of seed corn funding is being made available for community right to build orders. The money is not for development costs but for the costs of getting the order in place. Interestingly it is not payment per community organisation, but £17 million over three years to be applied for. For those bodies which can complete the authorisation process by 31st March 2013 there is a £2,000 bonus.
The community organisation will have to find 10% it self, normally, but this move must be a welcome recognition byu Government that getting these orders is not like applying for a passport. And the guidance even says that the is available to pay legal fees. (Could this be a sign of a new acceptability of lawyers in the planning process? We have the distinct feeling that we have not been welcome at Eland House for some time.)
This Government appears to be firmly behind local development initiatives, and the guidance ongetting the funding is launched by an upbeat foreword from Grant Shapps the Housing Minister saying “It’s a common misconception that people don’t want houses built in their back yard. Actually many do.”
This is a link to the prospectus.
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