UK govt launches pilot scheme to directly commission new homes

Thousands of new affordable homes are to be built by the UK government on public owned land in a bit to speed up its home building programme. In a pilot scheme on five sites in England, the government will ‘directly commission’ the building of up to 13,000 new homes, assuming responsibility for developing land instead of large building firms. Up to 40% of the homes are described as affordable starter homes on the sites at Old Oak Common, in north west London, former barracks in Dover, former...