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Local Housing Companies

Local Housing Companies are one of the joint venture models outlined in the Housing Green Paper in July 2007 and currently under consideration by Communities and Local Government (CLG).

Joint venture

The Local Housing Company model is a joint venture between the public and private sectors, with local authorities ‘investing’ land in the development process and private developers and other investors providing funding to an equivalent amount. The joint venture will be jointly owned with a 50:50 split, or 51% by the private sector and 49% by the public. 

Both organisations will share the risks and benefits (such as an uplift in land values) of the development process.

Benefits

The Local Housing Company approach will strengthen local authorities’ position at the centre of the development process, and provide a range of opportunities for investors and development partners.  In doing so, Local Housing Companies will also increase the supply and range of new homes available. This will help to meet government aspirations to build 3 million new homes in England by 2020.

Around 50% of all new homes built by Local Housing Companies will be for affordable sale and rent.

Local Housing Companies will:

• Increase the supply of a range of homes, including affordable homes
• Allow local authorities to invest land in housing development to capture a share of increasing land values
• Position local authorities at a stronger point in the centre of the development process
• Provide opportunities for a range of investment and development players to become partners of local authorities
• Create quality schemes with wider consumer choice and tenure options

Pilot programme

English Partnerships is leading the pilot programme which was launched in November 2007.

There are 14 local authorities taking part in the pilot:

• Barking & Dagenham
• Bristol
• Dacorum
• Harlow
• Leeds
• Manchester
• Newcastle
• Nottingham
• Peterborough
• Plymouth
• Sheffield
• Sunderland
•  Wakefield
• Wolverhampton

It is hoped that the first Local Housing Companies will be in place in 2008 and that development activity on the first projects will commence during 2009/2010.

Download the Local Housing Companies approach document from the Publications page.   Please note this document has been superseded by new guidance being issued to the 14 pilot Local Authorities and is published for reference only.  If you are a Local Authority interested in establishing a LHC, please contact Jeff Hennessey on 020 7531 2461 or Janet Johnson on 01233 619 924.