The HCA has signed contracts with both the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham and the London Borough of Hillingdon. The agreements will help the local authorities to deliver 987 new homes across the capital.
Under the agreement, Barking and Dagenham has been awarded £18.3 million by the HCA. This will ensure the delivery of 762 new affordable rent units, of which 489 will be larger units.
Hillingdon has been awarded £3.3m under the AHP, which will enable the delivery of 225 affordable rent units, intended to be used as supported housing.
Under the terms of the contracts, all the new homes will be made available for "affordable rent", which means that the councils will be able to charge tenants up to 80% of the market rate for the homes. Traditionally social landlords have not been able to charge more than 50% of the market rate.
The £4.5 billion AHP is administered by the HCA and is intended to deliver 80,000 new affordable homes over the 2011-2015 spending review period. Nearly 36% of the AHP’s budget has been allocated to delivering new housing in London.
In total, 146 organisations have been selected to deliver housing under the AHP over the spending review period. Of those, 26 are councils.
The powers of the HCA in London were devolved to the Greater London Authority at the beginning of April, as specified in the Localism Act. The devolved powers include the management of London's AHP.
