Enhanced support for council home-building efforts

Councils are set to receive enhanced support for their home-building efforts after Homes England cut the ribbon on its Local Government Capacity Centre.

The Capacity Centre was conceived as Homes England looked to structure itself to operate more productively with local government and help satisfy the government’s ambition of making 300,000 homes annually by 2024.

The government’s housing delivery agency is inviting officers to become listed on a Summer Learning Programme targeted at sharing knowledge on topics which range from effective project management software to principles of market failure.

As area of the centre’s work, Homes England is making it easier for municipality to gain access to relevant information, including: streamlining use of resources online and offering a one-stop shop of knowledge about available funds to help deliver more homes.

Peter Freeman, chair of Homes England, said: “Effective partnerships are essential if we are to build the homes the nation needs, so it's vital that we offer accessible tools, skills, funding and people. I’d prefer to thank our municipality colleagues for their input as we’ve developed the capability centre. I’m confident it marks a genuine advance – so please join us on the summer learning programme where we can build deeper and much more fruitful partnerships.”

The summer learning programme will run from 14 to 25 June.