Housing Minister John Healey today announced a further 265 stalled housing developments shortlisted for a share of up to £550m to help get building work on over 22,400 homes back on track and support up to 12,000 jobs, including 1,000 apprentices.

This is the second round of special Kickstart funding and follows £450m already released to build 11,500 homes, with the first of nearly 10,000 workers already back on site.

Projects in every region could benefit from the second round of Kickstart funding announced today, which comes on tough terms. 50% of funding is recoverable by government and every developer must provide schemes for local labour and apprenticeships.

And with half of the 22,400 shortlisted homes set to be for affordable rent or sale this is a boost for First Time Buyers and prospective housing association tenants - a commitment made in last week's Pre-Budget report.


All the projects will now go through a rigorous final assessment by the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) to determine which will get the green light. As this funding is intended to support the housebuilding industry when it needs it most Mr Healey has made clear that one of the key factors will be the ability to complete building work by March 2012.

Mr Healey said: "Today I am announcing a further 265 projects shortlisted for a share of up to £550m. This second round of Kickstart funding could build 22,400 homes, support 12,000 jobs, train as many as 1000 apprentices and build a further 11,000 affordable homes.

"We are using the power of government investment to build homes and support jobs at a time when the housebuilding industry needs it most.

"I'm making it a condition of getting this government money that all builders offer recruitment of local people and apprenticeship schemes. This means opportunities for 1,000 extra apprentices. With this money we're kickstarting stalled developments, supporting new jobs, training future generations of construction workers and building the quality homes we need."

All of these will be subject to due diligence to further test their deliverability, risk and financial position.

(CD/KMcA)