The Government’s housing agency has opened a competitive
bid round for its latest intake of strategic partnerships.
Homes England is seeking strategic partners with the
ambition and capacity to deliver affordable housing at
scale; organisations interested in applying now have until
noon, 18 May 2021 to submit their proposal online.
Strategic partnerships are one of two routes to access
grant funding from Homes England through the Government’s
Affordable Homes Programme (2021-2026). Rather than access
funding on a scheme-by-scheme basis (via Continuous Market
Engagement), strategic partners enter into a multi-year
grant agreement with Homes England to deliver affordable
housing. While strategic partnerships have historically
only been available to not-for-profit providers, this time
Homes England is welcoming proposals from for-profit
affordable housing providers and developers, and local
authorities.
Strategic partnerships play a pivotal role in Homes
England’s mission to use everything at its disposal to
intervene in the market to make homes happen. Partners can
benefit from the certainty of affordable homes grant
funding for the duration of the deal, with greater
flexibility to deliver and bespoke access to the agency’s
land and investment capabilities.
In return, strategic partners need to demonstrate how they
are supporting Homes England’s strategic objectives within
their development programme. This includes the adoption of
modern methods of construction (MMC), a dedication to
high-quality sustainable design and a commitment to working
closely with SMEs.
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.”
For more information about strategic partnerships and the
Affordable Homes Programme (2021-2026) please visit Homes
England set to launch bidding for strategic partnerships -
GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
ENDS
Notes to editors:
First launched in 2018, strategic partnerships were
initially designed to provide housing associations with
more flexibility on 2016-21 Affordable Housing grant
funding and access to wider expertise across the agency.
To date, we have:
Signed 23 partnerships with 27 housing associations
Awarded over £1.8bn of affordable housing grant investment
To deliver over 40,000 affordable homes
Our first cohort of strategic partners have said that the
strategic partnership has allowed them to do things that
wouldn’t otherwise have been possible; unlocking difficult
sites for development, accessing finance and investment,
and accelerating delivery of much needed homes.
Strategic partners funded through the 2021-26 Affordable
Housing Programme must drawdown eligible grant by 31 March
2026.
For more information about strategic partnerships and the
Affordable Homes Programme (2021-2026) please visit Homes
England set to launch bidding for strategic partnerships -
GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
