What does Affordable Housing Solutions look for in a project?

The key elements of successful projects are:

Location – in an area of high housing need and reasonable proximity to labour market opportunities

Transport – within reasonable distance of public transport

Accessibility – a proportion of dwellings provided are accessible to people with a disability

Design – efficient and functional design with a view to low maintenance costs

Value – cost of procurement is less than the market value

Leverage – the cost to government meets defined criteria, i.e. the HA secures adequate debt finance or social investment to reduce capital grants

Viability – the rental income from the project is sufficient to meet all outgoings including repayment of any debt incurred by the project

Sustainability - the project is financially sustainable over the life of the dwellings without recourse to additional government funding

AHS will undertake a feasibility on a project to determine whether it meets these criteria before recommending whether to proceed.

As state governments require housing associations to take on more risk, housing associations will increasingly use commercial principles to manage such risks. AHS will help housing associations in this area.