Housing associations could buy surplus NHS land and property at sub-market prices to build homes for nurses, Housing Today has learned.
NHS Estates and the Housing Corporation are believed to have been in discussions on the issue for the past two months, according to a source close to the negotiations.

He said the NHS would sell the land and buildings in areas with a key worker shortage to housing associations at preferential rates rather than selling them to the highest bidder.

In return, the housing associations would provide homes for nurses.

Pressure has been increasing on NHS Estates to use its surplus land to provide affordable housing for its staff rather than selling it for profit, after it agreed to sell £400m of land and property to the Bank of Scotland and Miller Group in September for private development (HT 19 September, page 17).

The source said: "The deal would effectively be picking up the pieces from the aftermath of Miller Homes scooping the best pickings."

The move comes hot on the heels of the new closer working relationship between the government's regeneration agency English Partnerships and the Housing Corporation.

The new relationship will see English Partnerships chief executive John Walker and corporation chief executive Norman Perry sit on each other's boards.

The NHS Plan aims to provide 2000 extra units of housing for nurses in London by July 2003.

English Partnerships has identified 125 key sites as ripe for development for affordable housing.

The Housing Corporation and NHS Estates both declined to confirm the talks were under way.

Source

Housing Today