Housing Minister Mark Prisk has launched bidding guidance for the scheme, which is based on the affordable homes programme. This is aiming to deliver 170,000 new homes by 2015; almost 63,000 of these are already completed.
On top of this, the new fund could help deliver up to 15,000 additional affordable homes.
The fund is intended to work alongside the government’s affordable housing guarantee, which provides a government pledge to underwrite debt taken out on eligible housing projects, thus reducing risk for lenders.
Providers can apply to combine cash from the new pot with the guarantee: a share of the £225m funding can be used as a grant towards a project, while the guarantee allows them to borrow the remaining finance at below market lending rates.
Richard Hill, interim CEO of the Homes & Communities Agency, which is administering the funding, said: “We welcome any initiatives to boost affordable housing supply and support Registered Providers to secure loan finance to get their schemes off the ground. We’re pleased to be able to provide further details of how they can bid for a share of the £225m of funding that will help deliver additional affordable homes, and how they will be able to benefit from the government’s affordable homes guarantee.”
Got a story? Email news@theconstructionindex.co.uk
