Flood plain homes expected
- 00:01:37
- ITN
Flood plain homes expected
A Government blueprint for millions of new homes is reportedly due to say it is "unrealistic" to stop building on flood plains.The Green Paper being published by housing minister Yvette Cooper will commit the Government to three million new homes by 2010 - many of them in the already crowded South-East of England.As part of an £8 billion drive to construct 70,000 extra affordable homes each year for the next three years, local authorities will be given the green light to start building council houses again.A Whitehall leak inquiry was launched after copies of the Green Paper got out.It was thought the blueprint was being kept tightly under wraps by the Department for Communities and Local Government.A DCLG spokesman said that the leaked documents appeared in fact to be early drafts of the consultation paper Ms Cooper will publish.Ms Cooper is expected to announce a significant increase in shared ownership houses and shared equity schemes to help young would-be home-owners get their foot on the property ladder.There will also be funding for additional social rented homes - the bulk of it to be provided by housing associations, but some by councils.New grants will be used to encourage councils to identify sites for development.Those which fail to do so will not only miss out on the money, but will find that decisions to reject housing applications in their area are overturned on appeal, Ms Cooper is expected to warn.© Independent Television News Limited 2007. All rights reserved.
ITN | July 23, 2007
