Grants for Councils and Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) for new build social housing: FOI release

Information requested

In respect of Affordable Housing subsidies:

Can you advise what level of above are being paid to Councils and other social landlords for the building of new social housing?

Response

The Scottish Government has no fixed grant rates for Councils and Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) for the delivery of new build social housing. We operate a flexible grant system. This is outlined in our published process and procedures guidance.

When applying for grant assistance at tender stage, for new build projects, grant applicants are required to self-certify the amount of funding that they are requesting is the minimum required for a project to be financially viable for their organisation whilst ensuring rent affordability. The amount of grant requested is then compared with the applicable affordable housing investment benchmark to determine how the funding application will be assessed. Projects that can be delivered with grant funding at or below the relevant benchmark follow a streamlined approval process, with projects which are seeking grant funding in excess of the relevant benchmark following a more detailed value for money assessment.

Flexibility to award grant funding above benchmark continues to apply to both RSL and local authority projects.

A detailed monitoring and reporting of AHSP projects approved against investment benchmarks can be found in the annual Affordable Housing Supply Programme Out-turn Report. The most recent report, 2021-2022, can be found online at the link below:

https://www.gov.scot/policies/more-homes/affordable-housing-supply/

The 2022-2023 out-turn report is planned to be published shortly.

About FOI

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