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Housing associations get extra year to build homes through £9bn Affordable Homes Programme
Housing associations will get an extra year to build homes funded through the £9bn Shared Ownership and Affordable Homes Programme (SOAHP) in a bid to save thousands of new homes that have stalled as a result of the coronavirus crisis.
The housing secretary Robert Jenrick has confirmed that associations will now have until March 2023 to start housing projects funded through the SOAHP, 12 months later than the previous deadline of March 2022.
The move comes as latest figures estimate 53,000 new affordable homes have stalled as a result of the construction delays brought about by COVID-19.
Last month a number of housing associations and sector bodies told Inside Housing that greater clarity was needed from government on the status of funding through the current SOAHP. Some associations said projects were at threat due to the delays.
This included the Stoke-based association Aspire which was set to receive an extra £5m for a £14m project through the SOAHP but said that it was in the dark over whether it would receive funding because the project was now unlikely to be completed before March 2022.
Under the new rules laid out by the Minsitry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, “spades must be in the ground” before March 2023.
Housing secretary Robert Jenrick said that his department had listened to the sector and agreed they should have a longer deadline.
He added: “Building the homes the country needs is central to the mission of this government as we prioritise uniting and levelling up the country.”
The extension comes two weeks after the government confirmed that it would be extending planning permissions by up to a year in a bid to save threatened developments from being mothballed.
Under the plans, construction sites with planning permission expiry dates between the start of lockdown and the end of the year will have these permissions extended to April 2021.
The £9bn SOAHP was launched in 2016. Analysis by Inside Housing revealed earlier this year that only 4% of the 90,000 homes delivered through the programme were for social rent tenures.
Last week the government confirmed that the next Affordable Homes Programme would see £12.2bn allocated between 2021 and 2026, with an expected 180,000 homes to be funded. This came hours after a release that appeared to extend the programme by three years.
The confirmation of the Affordable Homes Programme giveaway came alongside a raft of announcements to support Boris Johnson’s post-covid recovery plan. This included news that the government would be funding a 1,500 unit First Homes pilot through the Affordable Homes Programme, which would provide first time buyers and key workers homes at a 30% discount of market value.
The government also revealed it would implement a number of changes to planning laws, including new rules which would allow developers to build on brownfield sites without submitting ‘normal’ planning applications, as well giving developers permission to convert commercial buildings into homes without planning permission.
