Financial viability of the social housing sector : introducing the Affordable Homes Programme : report
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Financial viability of the social housing sector : introducing the Affordable Homes Programme : report
（HC, 465 ; session 2012-13）
Stationery Office, c2012
Available at 1 libraries
Note
"Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed on 2 July 2012. This report has been prepared under Section 6 of the National Audit Act 1983 for presentation to the House of Commons in accordance with Section 9 of the Act."
At head of title: National Audit Office, Department for Communities and Local Government
Description and Table of Contents
Description
The Affordable Homes Programme is aimed at delivering below market price housing. The development of the new funding model for affordable rent and home ownership was led by the Department for Communities and Local Government and the Homes and Communities Agency. The new Programme will be delivered by housing associations, local authorities and other housing providers, who were able to bid for Programme funding during 2011. The new model means the Department pays less grant per home than under previous schemes (GBP20,000 compared with GBP60,000 under the previous programme), while housing providers borrow more and can charge higher rents. The new scheme represents a reduction of 60 per cent in average annual spending on affordable homes over the four years of the Programme from 2011-12 to 2014-15, when compared to the three years up to March 2011. The Programme will increase providers' financial exposure, with the sector facing challenges in securing bank financing for capital investment and over the cost of supporting both future and existing debt. Providers have committed themselves to building some 80,000 homes for the GBP1.8 billion of government investment, compared to the initial target of 56,000.
However, key risks remain. Nearly a fifth of contracts with housing providers remain to be signed; more than half of the planned homes are not currently due to be delivered until the final year of the Programme; and some providers are concerned that they may not be able to charge rents at the levels they originally agreed with the Programme.
by "Nielsen BookData"