Affordable Homes Funding could be brought forward, says HCA chief

The proposed reassessment of spending under the Affordable Rent Programme comes a few days after the HCA released housing statistics which showed there has been a 68% fall in the number of affordable housing starts for 2011-2012 compared to the previous year.

The Government is considering the option of bringing spending under the Affordable Rent Programme forward, to ensure more homes are built, said Ritchie, according to an online report in Building.

The move would spread the spending under the four year Affordable Rent Programme more evenly, because the allocations for spending are currently loaded towards the end of the period to 2015, said Ritchie.

“No conclusions have been reached but we are looking at the overall profile of spend and whether it can be flattened," said Ritchie. "We’re also reviewing the contracts that we’ve signed and discussing with partners what flexibility there is to deliver outputs at different times.”

Under the current profile, spending on the Government’s affordable rent programme increases from £337m last year to £892m in 2014/5, with two-thirds of the spend in the last two years, according to the Building report.

The HCA is also in discussions with its registered providers to determine exactly what sites are intended to be built on and when. The concern is that a drop in affordable housing starts this year could lead to a drop in affordable housing completions next year.

“We’re confident we can deliver the Government's 170,000 home target, but as part of the discussions we’re having with providers we obviously need to firm up the position on how they will deliver their development plans,” said Ritchie.