Copy article

Homes England being instructed to put its 2021 – 2026 grant funding programme on hold

ended 20. September 2024

Newspage has been informed by an SME property developer that a potential deal with a Local Authority (LA) has been affected by Homes England being instructed to put its 2021 – 2026 grant funding programme on hold until after the Autumn Budget on the 30th October. In effect, the Local Authority at this time is not able to proceed with the purchase of the nearly completed dwellings so the SME developer and LA remain in limbo. Fast forward a week and Homes England announced the MADE partnership in association with Barratt Developments and Lloyds. We’re keen to find out if other developers have been told grant funding has been frozen, whether in full or part, and if it’s temporary or indefinite. Clearly, the ramifications of the freeze are potentially quite extreme, as a lack of grant funding then stops development happening on both affordable and normal property development as developers have to provide one to do the other. A freeze until after the Autumn Budget would also potentially take business away from trades and cause huge consequences on thousands of other suppliers. If you’ve got any thoughts on this, or have experienced it yourself if you’re a developer, send them across.

1 responses from the Newspage community

Copy all

Copy

Platinum
Simon Bridgland
Director at Release Freedom
It would appear that Angela Rayner has discarded one of her toys in favour of a newer, shinier, squeakier one, in the MADE partnership. Having instructed Homes England to immediately freeze the 2021-2026 funding program which allows Local Authorities and Housing Associations to buy affordable housing for their areas. This brings to the forefront the prevention of house building of affordable homes that are so greatly needed, which also prevents other development happening. With no end to the freeze in sight, income is removed from all trades involved at all levels, placing SME’s and sole traders in dire straits, ruining businesses, especially if those businesses are waiting on payments for work already completed. Developers can’t sell housing stock, trades unlikely to get paid, even for work already completed due to invoices owed on onerous terms, and then the public not seeing the mythical 1.5M new homes they were promised. Its not like Rayner didn’t see it coming.