Affordable housing grant funding available from Homes England

The Government’s housing agency has launched a new affordable housing grant funding opportunity. The Affordable Homes Programme provides grant funding to support the capital costs of developing affordable housing for rent or sale. It’s another grant for businesses awarded by the government. Other business grants they’ve provided recently include council business grants, start-up business grants and grants for charities. 

How much affordable housing grant funding is available?

Homes England is making £7.39 billion available from April 2021 to deliver up to 130,000 affordable homes by March 2026. The homes will be built outside of London. 

What type of businesses is Housing England looking to work with?

Previously, only strategic partnerships have been available for not-for-profit providers. However, Homes England is looking for proposals from a range of businesses. This includes for-profit affordable housing providers, local authorities and developers. They hope to create a more diverse housing market. 

Partners will be expected to promote the use of Modern Methods of Construction (MMC). This means they are dedicated to high-quality sustainable design and a commitment to working closely with SMEs. 

What does the affordable housing grant funding support?

The funding supports the development of:

  • Supported Housing (10% of homes delivered)
  • Rural Housing (10% of homes delivered)
  • Traveller pitches
  • Empty homes.

The funding is for the supply of new build affordable housing. They are two types of rent social and affordable. Other new build affordable housing to be built includes:

  • Social Rent
  • Affordable Rent
  • Routes to Home Ownership (around half of the homes delivered)
  • Shared Ownership
  • Home Ownership for people with long term disabilities
  • Older Persons Shared Ownership (OPSO)
  • Rent to Buy.

The affordable housing grant funding does not provide grants for:

  • Regeneration
  • Section 106
  • Major Repairs.

Funding will support wider strategic objectives that include:

  • Encouraging uptake of the National Design Guidance. This is part of the Government’s collection of planning practice guidelines within the National Planning Policy Framework. 
  • Improving the energy efficiency and sustainability of new affordable housing supply.
  • Placing significant focus on and investment in MMC.
  • Encouraging the use of SME contractors.

Gordon More, Interim Chief Executive Homes England said:

“Our strategic partnership model is about working with ambitious organisations to maximise successful delivery through Government funding and use of our wider resources so we can increase innovation, diversify the sector and increase the supply of much needed affordable homes.

“Building on the successes of our existing strategic partnerships, we’re welcoming bids from a broader set of partners that are as committed as we are to design quality and modernisation.”

How can I receive grant funding?

In order to receive affordable housing grant funding, you need to be a qualified investment partner of Homes England. If this is not the case, you will need to be working with an organisation that is. A Grant Writing Consultant can help increase your chances of success. They know how to best convey your business’s objectives and know what funders are looking for in grant proposals. A grant consultant can help you bid for funding efficiently increasing your chances of success. 

There are two routes to access funding:

  • Scheme by scheme bidding through continuous market engagement (CME). 
  • A multi-year strategic partnership to access grant for a longer-term development programme. 

Need help with writing your grant application?

Our Grant Writing Service is for businesses who want to start applying for grants, but don’t know where to begin. If you don’t have the resources or the time in-house to write a winning grant – we can help. Our Grant Consultants have over 60 years of experience in bidding for funding and grants. They can take care of the whole thing for you – they’ll even submit it on your behalf. 

Get in touch to find out how we can help your business grow!

You can access our Grant Tracker service which hosts all the latest grant opportunities in the UK from 1,500 data points. Opportunities are manually tracked, enabling for accurate keyword labelling, optimising your search for the perfect grant. This can help you streamline your search for grants for businesses.

You can sign up today!

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