Affordable Homes Scheme Will Support Construction Sector

The Affordable Homes Guarantee Scheme 2020, approximated at £3 billion, will increase investment in providers of affordable housing and support the delivery of a significant number of new affordable homes. The contract for a delivery partner to operate the scheme should be awarded over the coming weeks and the scheme will be open for business by the end of the year.

Christopher Pincher, Minister of state for House, issued the following statement on the scheme:

“Today, I am laying before Parliament a Departmental Minute setting out the details of a contingent liability that the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government intend to incur under the Infrastructure (Financial Assistance) Act 2012. The contingent liability will be created by a new £3bn Affordable Homes Guarantee Scheme.

“The new Affordable Homes Guarantee Scheme – announced at Spring Statement 2019 – will be delivered by a delivery partner on behalf of the Ministry under the oversight of Homes England. The delivery partner is being appointed through a fair, open and competitive procurement process, and we have appointed a preferred bidder with whom we will agree the detailed operational arrangements. We plan on awarding the contract over the coming weeks and for the scheme to be open for business by the end of the year. In delivering the scheme, the delivery partner will raise capital from bond market investors and on-lend the proceeds to Registered Providers of affordable housing in England. The Ministry will guarantee both the proceeds to bond investors and payments by borrowers to the issuing entity.

“Through the scheme the Government will boost investment in providers of affordable housing and support the delivery of a significant number of new affordable homes for those whose housing needs are not currently met by the market.”

Following the peak of the coronavirus, the UK is on the brink of a potentially ruinous recession and the Affordable Homes Guarantee Scheme 2020 is one of a number of initiatives which will help to restart the economy in general and the construction sector in particular. All such initiatives are of great interest and importance to FASET (Fall Arrest Safety Equipment Training) – the not-for-profit organisation that promotes safety within the construction and FM sectors through training and guidance for its members.

The ‘new normal’ has brought a wave of new challenges as well as opportunities and FASET exists to give its support individuals and organisations.

 

 

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