Posted 23.01.18
Commons Select Committee: Article link
The Commons Select Treasury Committee has published a unanimously agreed report on the Autumn Budget 2017, in which it recommends that the Local Authority Housing Revenue Account borrowing cap should be removed to help meet the Government's target of 300,000 new homes per year.
Local authorities are limited in how much they can build through the cap on borrowing within Local Authority Housing Revenue Accounts.
In Autumn Budget 2017, the Government raised the borrowing cap for councils in areas of high affordability by £1 billion to help achieve its target of 300,000 new homes per year.
Private housebuilders have consistently provided 150,000 units per year, so the target is unlikely to be met without a significant increase in supply by local authorities.
To achieve this, the report argues that the Housing Revenue Account borrowing cap should be removed - or, at the very least, the Treasury should define the allocation criteria for the additional £1 billion more clearly.
*****
Posted 05.01.18
GOV.UK: Article link
In April 2016 the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) opened bidding to the Shared Ownership and Affordable Homes Programme 2016 to 2021 (SOAHP 2016 to 2021) through publication of a Prospectus.
Initial allocations of capital grant for new affordable housing schemes were announced on 5 January 2017. As planned these did not allocate all of the available budget, with £1.3 billion remaining available.
The HCA is reopening bidding for funding to develop additional affordable housing through a continuous market engagement (CME) process.
The available funding includes both the £1.3 billion which was not allocated at the initial bid round and a share, to be determined, of the £1.4 billion announced at the Autumn Statement, for new affordable homes outside London.
*****
Updated 12.01.18
