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Government’s affordable homes programme a success

The National Audit Office has found the Government’s Affordable Homes Programme to be a success.

The report found the launch of the Programme by the Department for Communities and Local Government and the Homes and Communities Agency had enabled some 80,000 homes to be built for the £1.8bn investment, outstripping the target of 56,000.

Despite this, nearly a fifth of contracts with housing providers remain to be signed, and 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 they may not be able to charge rents at the levels they originally agreed with the programme.

A new funding model for affordable rent and home ownership was led by the Department and the Homes and Communities Agency.

It will be delivered by housing associations, local authorities and other housing providers, who are able to bid for Programme funding during 2011.

The model means the Department will pay less grant per home than under previous schemes (£20,000 compared with £60,000), while housing providers borrow more and can charge higher rents.

It represents a reduction of 60% in average annual spending on affordable homes over the four years of the Programme from 2011-12 to 2014-15, when compared with the three years up to March 2011.

Amyas Morse, head of the National Audit Office, said today: “The Affordable Homes Programme has made a good start, with providers committing themselves to building some 24,000 more homes than originally expected.

“There are key risks, however, including the fact that more than half of the homes are planned for the final year, with no room for slippage.

“The final judgment on the success of the Programme will depend on how well these risks can be managed between now and 2015.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .