Affordable Housing: Construction

(asked on 3rd December 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking, following the closure of the Community Housing Fund outside of London, to support the delivery of innovative low-cost mutual homeownership homes developed by community led housing groups which require capital grant funding but are not eligible for the Shared Ownership and Affordable Homes Programme.


Answered by
Christopher Pincher Portrait
Christopher Pincher
This question was answered on 11th December 2020

Appropriately constituted community-based organisations (such as housing co-operatives or community land trusts) are able to apply to the Affordable Homes Programme for capital grant for low cost rental and shared ownership properties. The tenures for which capital grant is awarded from the Affordable Homes Programme are limited to social rent, affordable rent, shared ownership, and rent to buy. Although anyone can apply for grant, subject to meeting Homes England’s Investment Partners status, for low cost rental properties the landlord must be a registered provider of social housing.

Under the Homes England Community Housing Fund, appropriately constituted community-based organisations were able to apply for capital grant in respect of mutual homeownership homes. That programme closed in March and there is therefore currently no provision for awarding capital grant in respect of mutual homeownership homes. Homes England has no record of any applications for capital grant for “low-cost mutual homeownership” schemes having been submitted under the Community Housing Fund.

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