An £18 million deal to provide more affordable housing and help support industry was announced. The deal has been arranged through the Government's National Clearing House with Bovis Homes, which enables house builders to sell their unsold stock to housing associations for use as affordable housing, either for rent or low cost home ownership.
This is the largest deal so far agreed with a major housebuilder through the Clearing House Programme. It provides 379 affordable homes on sites across the country for families who would otherwise be on waiting lists, following the agreement between the Homes and Communities Agency, Bovis Homes, and a number of housing associations.
It means that 4,800 homes in total have now been brought into use as affordable housing for a total of £160 million, with more deals in the pipeline.
The 379 homes involved are on sites across the country, with 106 in the East Midlands, 121 in the East of England, 98 in the South West and 54 in the West Midland.
The homes are being made available through the following RSL - Midland Heart Limited, Walsall Housing Group, Derwent Housing Association, Orbit Housing Group, Broadland Housing Association, Peddars Way Housing Association and Sovereign Housing Association.
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The National Clearing House process was launched as part of a set of initiatives to respond to the current market and to bring homes into the affordable housing sector.
Funding to purchase the homes comes from the National Affordable Housing Programme with an initial £200 million tranche to buy unsold stock off the open market, providing it is of good quality and offers value for money.
The Government announced in July that more money beyond the £200 million to buy unsold stock from house builders for affordable homes, could be made available for homes at the right prices, in the right locations.
The Government announced plans to allow councils to keep all the money they raise through renting and selling homes. It is hoped the move will enable councils to build more properties, boosting the supply of affordable homes.
Under the current system, some of the rental income received from council housing is pooled nationally and distributed to other councils through the Housing Revenue Account Subsidy System. Three-quarters of all of the money raised through selling council houses under the Right to Buy scheme is also pooled.
Councils currently build only a few hundred homes each year, with the bulk of new social housing being built by registered social landlords.
The Government recently announced plans to enable councils to bid for a share of the grant given to social landlords to subsidise the cost of new housing.
