Can The Next Round Of Housing PFI Help Deliver The HCA Agenda?

Housing PFI is into Round 6. Much to the delight of the new

Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) there have been twenty four

expressions of interest from local authorities, seeking £4

billion worth of credits which is double the £1.9 billion

available. This is significantly more interest than shown by local

authorities in previous rounds. This is good news for the HCA and

for communities as PFI is still an important procurement route for

delivering affordable housing. The emphasis in Round 6

will be on procuring neighbourhood transformational schemes. PFI

schemes are, according to the HCA about communities not just

housing. Although these schemes will be based around the need for

additional affordable housing a number will involve extra care

schemes which to date have been particularly successful.

The HCA will be considering all twenty four schemes by the end

of February 2009 with a recommendation to the Communities and Local

Government Department at the end of March or early April. The

public announcement as to which local authorities have been

successful will be made at the end of April or the beginning of

May.

It is worth recapping on what happened in Rounds 1 to 5 of

Housing PFI schemes. There were seven Round 1 PFI Pathfinder

schemes including the London Borough of Islington, Manchester,

Reading, Leeds, the London Borough of Newham, Sandwell and the

London Borough of Camden. These schemes all signed between March

2003 and May 2006 and were very different in nature but most

involved a high level of refurbishment of existing stock. The

Communities and Local Government Department published "The

Pathfinder Schemes Baseline Report" in September 2008

which has assessed how the Pathfinder projects fared in terms of

value for money, improvements in housing stock, regeneration of

local areas and took in the views of tenants of the completed

schemes.

Some of the main aims of the Pathfinder schemes included the

diversification of social housing provisions, regeneration of areas

where demand for social housing was high but the stock was poor and

trying to solve the social problems associated with poor housing.

The Round 2 PFI schemes include five signed Housing Revenue Account

(HRA) schemes and whilst the Forest Gate scheme signed in February

2009, one project from this Round is yet to sign. Round 3 has

produced three HRA schemes still in procurement whilst Round 4

includes two HRA schemes in Manchester Brunswick and Oldham also in

procurement. The...