I have welcomed the announcement today by
housing minister, John Healey that Kings Heath will receive almost £200,000 to fund
affordable housing for families in Brandwood.

Waterloo Housing Association will receive £1,960.00 to fund 20 social rented and 16
Low Cost Home Ownership units, which will complete the final phases of the 300+
development at Brandwood End which was started in 2002. The scheme has already
offered employment and apprenticeship opportunities in its earlier phases and will
continue to do so through this current phase.

The scheme comes as part of today's announcement by the government that it is
providing nearly £500 million across the country to build around 8,000 affordable
homes across the country. This takes total Government funding for house building to
over £3.3 billion since June. As well as going to housing associations, this cash
has been used to help developers to kick start their stalled projects and get house
building back on track, and to fund the largest council house-building programme for
two decades. Over 3,000 of these new homes are expected to be available through the
government's HomeBuy scheme which helps first time buyers onto the property ladder.

This is fantastic news for Brandwood: not only does it provide
great affordable housing where it is really needed, it will help to secure a strong
future for the house building industry and support the next generation of
construction workers by creating thousands of new apprenticeships.
I'm delighted that Waterloo Housing has been provided with the funds to continue
the scheme at Brandwood End and I look forward to seeing the finished development.
This is exactly the kind of investment that we need to help bring growth back to our
region: not cuts that Cameron's Tories are promising.

John Healey said: "Unlike Governments in previous recessions, we have used the power
of public investment to ensure that even during the downturn we continued to build
the homes this country needs. When levels of private house building plummeted, we
stepped in with record levels of funding to get Britain building again.

"So today, I can confirm I have given the go-ahead to nearly £500million extra
funding for Housing Associations to build 8,000 new homes. But I want to make the
most of every taxpayer's pound, which is why I am requiring those benefiting from
this extra cash to offer local job and apprenticeship opportunities.

"Today's investment in more affordable housing takes total Government help for house
building to £3.3billion since June. As the economy continues its recovery, I am
determined that this support continues for the industry, for first-time buyers and
for families."

Today's announcement also came just a week after the union UNISON launched a
campaign to call for more affordable homes across the country. Dave Prentis, UNISON
General Secretary said: "Everyone has the right to a decent home - a home that is
affordable, warm, secure, free from damp, well maintained and accessible.

"Investing in house building makes social and economic sense and stimulates the
economy by providing jobs in the construction industry."