Criteria announced for “largest ever” government fund initiative for affordable home providers

The Housing Corporation has launched the prospectus for its 2008-11 National Affordable Housing Programme.

The scheme offers a £3bn rise from the current funding period, in order to comply with the Brown Government’s housing green paper, which aims for a 50% increase in new social home development in 2010/11.

The prospectus outlines two directions that funding applicants may take: a partnering route, or a Specialist route.

Housing Corporation Chief Executive Steve Douglas said of the launch, “The Government has set out with clarity and ambition to meet the country’s need for social rented homes, to tackle housing affordability and to support quality and sustainability. As a direct result, we have been awarded our largest ever grant allocation for the third consecutive time.”