Leader of Worthing Borough Council Daniel Humphreys (Conservative, Offington) has welcomed the news that 482 new homes were built in Worthing last year.
Across England, over 220,000 new homes were built in 2017-18 – the highest level of new homes built in all but one of the last 31 years. This brings the total number of new homes built since 2010 to 1.3 million.
This increase follows Conservative reforms to the planning system and investment in affordable homes.
The Government is committed to building the homes we need across England, ensuring the housing market works for everyone, and is on track to deliver 300,000 homes a year by the mid-2020s.
To build more of the homes we need, the Government will continue with a major programme of investment and planning reform, while removing barriers to local councils building homes.
Commenting, Cllr Humphreys said: “I am delighted that 482 new homes were built in Worthing last year, as Conservative Councillors continue to deliver for our local area. This Government is committed to making the housing market work for ordinary people, building 1.3 million homes since 2010."
“We have made great progress, but there is more to do to ensure more people in Worthing can achieve the dream of owning their own home. That’s why the Government is investing £44 billion, rewriting planning rules and helping first-time buyers get on the ladder with schemes like Help to Buy. Here in Worthing we are helping to deliver new homes in areas such as West Durrington and the former Aquarena site. The recent plans we approved for the former Police Station site at Union Place will deliver another 194 homes”
Worthing Conservative Councillors Sean MacDonald (Northbrook) and Kevin Jenkins (Gaisford) joined Cllr Humphreys to see progress on the West Durrington scheme.
- New statistics show over 222,000 new homes were delivered last year, the highest in all but one of the last 31 years. The number of additional homes increased by 2 per cent on the previous year.[1]
The Conservatives are building the homes people need:
- Reforming planning to get the homes families need built sooner. We have revised the National Planning Policy Framework, ensuring that more land in the right places is available for housing.[1]
- Investing £44 billion to deliver the housing this country needs. At Autumn Budget 2017, the government announced over £15 billion of new financial support, bringing total support for housing to at least £44 billion over a five-year period.[2]
- Increasing the Housing Infrastructure Fund to £5.5 billion, unlocking up to 650,000 new homes. This funding is directed towards new roads, cycle paths, flood defences and land remediation work, all essential ahead of homebuilding.[3]
- Removing the borrowing cap for councils to build so they can deliver the homes their communities need. This move will allow councils to double house building to around 10,000 homes by 2021-22.[4]
[1] HM Treasury, Budget 2018, 29 October 2018, link.
[2] HM Treasury, Budget 2018, 29 October 2018, link.
[3] HM Treasury, Budget 2018, 29 October 2018, link.
[4] MHCLG, Press Release, 3 October 2018, link.
And helping to get more people on the housing ladder:
- Cutting stamp duty for 95 per cent of first-time buyers - saving up to £5,000 on the purchase of their home. Since we introduced changes, over 121,500 people have saved money on a deposit for their new home and at the 2018 Budget we extended this relief to shared ownership properties.[1]
- Over 460,000 people have used one of our schemes to make homeownership a reality. There are more than 1.1 million Help to Buy ISAs, and Help to Buy has helped over 300,000 first time buyers households onto the ladder.[2]
[1] MHCLG, Press Release, 26 April 2018, link; MHCLG, News Story, 31 July 2018, link.
[2] Hansard, WA139957, 1 May 2018, link; MHCLG, News Story, 11 January 2018, link; MHCLG, News Story, 26 April 2018, link.