THE government’s housing agency has welcomed a £1m fund for 36 rural councils to plan thousands of homes.

Money unveiled by Defra and the Department for Communities and Local Government will help councils design new developments.

Sir Bob Kerslake, chief executive of the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), said it was the first time rural councils had received tailored funding.

The Rural Masterplanning Fund announcement would help local authorities develop the kind of places rural residents wanted.

“It’s a hugely significant move towards helping provide a longer-term and much-needed boost to the well-being of rural communities across the country.

“These areas face particular challenges in maintaining a decent supply of homes that are affordable for local people even on modest incomes.”

The agency was committed to helping local authority partners deliver sustainable developments for rural communities, said Sir Bob.

“This funding will go a long way to helping them achieve this.”

Councils receiving funding bid for the money through a design competition by the HCA and the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment.

Sir Bob said: “We will continue to work closely with CABE on the ongoing management of the fund to ensure that the right level of support is on hand.”

Local authorities will now able to appoint specialist consultants to carry out masterplans for individual sites without undertaking an OJEU process.

Since the HCA consultants’ panels have already been pre-qualified, they can be appointed following a fast track process.

This work is separate to the programme of work already being carried out by the HCA and CABE with local authorities.

The full list of successful local authority bids can be found on the Department for Communities and Local Government website.

An HCA summary of successful local authority bids can be downloaded by clicking here (40KB pdf).