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Around 17 November last year something started happening here at THFC (The Housing Finance Corporation) …..the phone started ringing again! That was CSR (Comprehensive Spending Review) + four weeks, and Housing Associations were coming out of the bunker.
Continue reading Rental market flexibility and how much to pay for it.
Since August 2007 the investment world has been hit by the perfect storm, unparalleled since the 1930s and in some ways exceeding even that. In the period up to the end of the current Comprehensive Spending Round, affordable housing had received a significant settlement of £8.4Bn for the period 2008-2011. We await the outcome of the proposed CSR on October 20, but it is likely that both capital and revenue spend on affordable housing are to be cut by 25-30% across the next review period. The profiling of cuts is likely to mean that there will be pressure to maintain even the existing committed investment programme, let alone grow output of affordable homes in the next 12 to 18 months.
Continue reading Brave New World: The London Housing Economy Post CSR….
Dear Sir (for it is usually a ‘Sir’) – We are a charitable organisation committed to delivering affordable housing to first time buyers and those in housing need. Like your institution we have been in business for some time. Unlike your institution we did not invest in complex and toxic investments called things like “CDO2 and “SIVs” (which we thought were for getting rid of the unwanted bits in a kitchen…clearly yours seemed to do the opposite), or pay our Chief Executive £10m in one year.
Continue reading An open letter from a Housing Association to the Bank Manager
There is current increasing interest in the application of the Department for Energy and Climate Change’s (DECC) Feed in Tariff (FIT) scheme to tackle fuel poverty in Housing Associations. THFC is currently investigating whether it can put together a wholesale funding package for such schemes. In the meantime we have been funding a number of regeneration projects using long term EIB funds which incorporate energy saving features in both construction and design. We visited one of the very best of these, Mariners Quay, in Newport Old Town Docks last week, being developed by Seren Housing. This large scale Eco Grade 5 scheme has just been awarded a Zero Carbon Award. Read on and be impressed!
The Housing Finance Corporation (THFC) invests £13m of funds sourced from the European Investment Bank (EIB) into two sites in Hackney being built for Genesis Housing Group and Network Housing Group. Between both schemes, the saving for the duration of the loan compared to bank funding adds up to over £2m. EIB’s AAA credit rating provides the cheapest long dated fixed source of funds available to housing associations. This saving allows grant to be spread further and allowing more developments to take place.
In the following blog post, Andrew Heywood discusses his in-depth article Investing in Social Housing that has just been placed on the THFC website and which you can also download by clicking on the title here: “Investing in Social Housing – A Guide to the Development of the Affordable Housing Sector”.
The Social Housing Magazine Finance Conference was ominously titled “Affordable Housing in an Age of Austerity”. The timing of the conference was unfortunate given that very little about housing policy has been announced by the new Government. Many predictions were made from various people within the housing industry as to factors likely to affect the housing sector.
This THFC Space blog post is written with some frustration, in terms of conflict between head and heart. We have had an apparently policy laden 24 hour deluge since the three Leaders’ debates began what seems a lifetime ago, but was only 20 days, which has shaken the nation from its political lethargy. However, the deep cuts and tax rises necessary to eliminate the c£70Bn structural deficit have been assiduously avoided by all politicians.
What would make people go out and vote on 6 May? This video…? [Click "Continue reading" after the video for more thoughts on this subject]
In the 3 months or so leading up to the end of 2009 there has been a growing sense of ‘wait and see’ amongst many Housing Associations (HAs) considering further development. There are clear question-marks around many things – the availability and terms of future grant -in particular.
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