New homes scheme revealed for West Midlands

The mayor, Richard Parker, said the money was being made available after the government relaxed rules on how the region's housing funds could be spent

One thousand new homes for people on the social housing waiting list in the West Midlands will be delivered, the region's mayor has claimed.

Labour's Richard Parker was given permission by the government to use £40m of existing housing funds to directly provide properties for those who needed them.

Previously, the West Midlands Combined Authority could only use its budget to clean up and unlock brownfield sites for developers.

There are currently 65,335 households on the area's social housing waiting list.

David Hopper recently moved into a housing association scheme in Coventry.

The 42-year-old was homeless for two-and-a-half years following the death of his mother and family issues.

"I've been here for about six months and it's changed my life," he said.

"It was so difficult waiting on the homeless register."

David Hopper told the BBC his new home had saved his life

"I was trying to deal with my own health problems, losing my mum, and my job," Mr Hopper went on.

"I was trying to rebuild my life and kept failing because I couldn't move on without my own home.

"It's given me a chance of life. I will always now have a place over my head that's mine because of the low rent. This is going to give me the strength to go forward."

The aim of the new Social Housing Accelerator Fund is, the mayor says, to convert properties that are ready for occupation or under construction or soon-to-be-built and make them social rent homes – the most affordable type of home available.

The scheme will use money already allocated for housing in the West Midlands by the authority.

Jack Kelly, from a housing association, said more work needed to be done on improving existing homes in the area

The mayor said "cutting red tape" with regard to direct delivery of social rent accommodation would help cut the waiting list.

Parker previously set a target for the region to be building 2,000 social homes a year by 2028.

The new initiative comes as latest figures from the authority showed there were 7,450 households, including 14,976 children, currently living in temporary accommodation across the West Midlands.

Jack Kelly, from Midland Heart, the largest housing association in the West Midlands, welcomed the announcement from the mayor but said more had to be done to help improve existing housing stock.

"It's fantastic news that this money is being used to bring down rents for people," he said.

"Homes don't happen overnight. People can be on our waiting list for many years. This will always be a supply issue."

"The next challenge is how we make sure we're building as much affordable housing as we can in this region."