Private firms to bid for housing grant

8 Sep 05
At least 19 private developers will be invited to make detailed bids for grant after reaching the Housing Corporation's short list of organisations hoping to build affordable homes during the next two years.

09 September 2005

At least 19 private developers will be invited to make detailed bids for grant after reaching the Housing Corporation's short list of organisations hoping to build affordable homes during the next two years.

The developers, including companies such as George Wimpey and Taylor Woodrow, are among 99 registered social landlords and non-RSLs named by the corporation on September 1.

All have until October 7 to submit detailed applications for part of the record £3.9bn on offer through the 2006/08 National Affordable Housing Programme.

It is impossible to know exactly how many developers have a direct interest in the short list because the 99 organisations include 32 consortium-based bids. While 52 are led by RSLs, there are a further six mixed consortiums, plus two led by developers.

Neil Griffiths, research leader at the National Housing Federation, pointed out that housing associations and developers had always worked in partnership even though – until now – only RSLs could receive grant. 'There is a great deal of partnership working already going on and I would expect that to continue,' he said.

The 80 housing associations on the short list include most large RSLs, including Places for People, which could not bid last time as it was under supervision following a governance dispute.

But associations have been alarmed by the extra paperwork they must complete before they can apply for grant. According to the NHF, the bidding process alone could cost RSLs about £2m as they must fill in a detailed financial workbook, giving a

30-year cash flow for each property they plan to build.

'This appears to be a particularly ineffective way of collecting data, and does nothing to add value to the process at a time when the corporation is seeking to achieve efficiency gains,' said NHF chief executive David Orr.

Margaret Allen, the corporation's regional director for central England, agreed that the process was more time-consuming than before and said the corporation was keen to find ways of limiting administration while ensuring equal treatment between RSLs and non-RSLs.

'It's a competition that's open to far more organisations,' she said. 'All the information we are requesting is necessary, but there may be ways that we can make the supply of data easier.'

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