The Housing Corporation has been inundated with more than 200 responses expressing an interest in the government’s £200m pilot scheme of paying housing grant to developers, it said this week.

Consultation on the pilot closed last week – the corporation said it was still sifting through the huge volume of correspondence it has received, with interest already outstripping the available pot.

Neil Hadden, deputy chief executive at the corporation, said:

“I think what it does show is that there is a tremendous interest. It will be well oversubscribed.”

Simon Dow, chief executive of the Guinness Trust, which submitted its expression of interest, admitted the competition was fierce but said it was important to remain involved at this stage of the process.

He said: “We are keen to see what the opportunities are. It’s important to keep your options open when the rules are developing. Until we have seen more of the detail it is difficult to say what happens next.”

Dow said a direct bid might not be the only way the trust could benefit from the process.

He added: “As I understand it a substantial number of developers have put in bids and in some cases they list us as a partner and other associations.

“It is clear we may pick up business as a result of the developers putting in bids.”

Source

Housing Today