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Autumn Statement 2023: extra £3bn announced for Affordable Homes Guarantee Scheme
The chancellor has announced an additional £3bn in funding for housing associations under the Affordable Homes Guarantee Scheme (ASGS).
Delivering the Autumn Statement to parliament today, Jeremy Hunt’s statement mostly focused on measures to help with the cost of living crisis, such as restoring Local Housing Allowance rates to the 30th percentile.
In the briefing paper published shortly after his speech, the government announced the additional funding for the ASGS.
The document states: “The government remains committed to building the affordable homes this country needs, building on the success of the existing Affordable Homes Guarantee Scheme through a £3 billion extension which will help the scheme deliver 20,000 new homes, as well as improving the quality and efficiency of thousands.”
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The bond programme, which is managed by ARA Venn under a concession agreement from the government, was launched in November 2021 with £3bn in funding.
It allows for bonds to be issued, and the money raised is then lent to registered providers.
The bonds, which are backed by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, offer loans of up to 30 years to registered providers to build affordable housing.
The aim of the fund is to provide lower-cost fixed-rate debt to registered providers to boost the supply of affordable housing, including homes for social rent, affordable rent and shared ownership.
Elsewhere in the Autumn Statement, an additional £450m in funding was revealed for a third round of the Local Authority Housing Fund to deliver 2,400 new housing units.
This will be used to house Afghan refugees and ease wider housing and homelessness pressures. It takes the total amount spent under the fund to £1.2bn.
The government also revealed a £5m extension, to June 2025, of the Public Works Loan Board policy margin.
This aims to support local authorities borrowing for Housing Revenue Accounts, and could provide savings and additional investment in social housing of as much as £150m over the life of the borrowing.
There will be £3m for a range of measures to improve the home buying and selling process, including pilots to develop property technology products and to digitise local-council property data.
In addition, there was funding for the Homes for Ukraine scheme and homelessness prevention.
The government will extend ‘thank you’ payments into a third year for Homes for Ukraine sponsors across the UK.
They will remain at £500 per month and “reflect the ongoing generosity of hosts in supporting those who have fled the war”.
On homelessness prevention, £120m will be provided for the devolved administrations and local authorities in England to invest in tackling the issue and supporting Ukrainian households who can no longer remain in sponsorship.
In March, Inside Housing revealed an increasing number of Ukrainian refugees were becoming homeless, including more than 3,500 families with children.
