More public land to be sold for house building
The government has pledged to make more public land available for house building after identifying enough sites to meet its initial 100,000 home goal.
Housing minister Grant Shapps has said government departments will continue to identify and release brownfield land.
The last Budget report, published in March, stated that the government had identified enough land for 100,000 homes, and the Communities and Local Government department has now released details of how this breaks down by landowner (see table, below).
Sites will be made available to developers under a ‘build now, pay later’ model where the new owner will not have to pay for the sites until after homes are built.
Mr Shapps said: ‘Government is one of the country’s biggest landowners - it’s only right that we make the best use of our assets, and I can’t think of a better use than building the homes this country needs.
‘We’re already on track to smash the prime minister’s ambition to release previously-used public land for housing: enough land has already been identified to support more than 102,000 homes. But we’re not stopping there - I’m determined to continue looking for more sites suitable for house building.’
The Homes and Communities Agency has published an updated version of its Land development and disposal plan setting out its contribution to the land release programme.
Deputy chief executive Richard Hill said: ‘Land is key to promoting economic growth and supporting the delivery of new homes, and this plan sets out how we will bring forward opportunities for new homes, employment and community facilities at sites across the country.’
Land available for house building
| Landowner | Housing capacity |
| Department for Transport | 6,320 |
| Ministry of Defence | 37,630 |
| Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | 11,750 |
| Department of Health | 16,150 |
| Ministry of Justice | 1,620 |
| Olympics (Olympic Delivery Agency and Olympic Park Legacy Company) | 6,220 |
| Department for Communities and Local Government | 2,030 |
| Homes and Communities Agency | 16,230 |
| Others | 1,140 |
| Non-Government public landholders | 3,320 |
| Total | 102,670 |
Numbers are rounded to the nearest 10 and include housing completions on sites previously sold. Source: CLG
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