Decision details

The Council has ambitious plans to build on the success of delivering new homes in Doncaster through the Council House Build Programme (CHBP) including much needed new affordable homes. A 5 year Housing Delivery Plan (HDP) approved at Cabinet on 12th January 2021 set out how the Council could deliver new homes, the report also supported the need to apply for grant funding opportunities following approval of the HDP.
Phase 1 of the CHBP was approved at Cabinet in December 2019,
Phase 2 of the CHBP was approved at Cabinet on 22nd June 2022. The Phase 2 Cabinet report gave approval that:
- authority be delegated to the Director of Economy and Environment and Section 151 Officer, in consultation with the Mayor and the Portfolio Holder for Housing and Business, to accept the funding and agree terms and conditions for any Shared Ownership and Affordable Housing Programme (SOAHP) grant funding awards for all the Council House Build Programme (CHBP) schemes, and subject to an Officer Decision Record (ODR) for each scheme bid.
See attached Officer Decision Record for further information.

Approval to enter into the 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme grant agreement with Homes England and acceptance of grant funding for the development of new Council Homes, through the Council House Build Programme (CHBP).

ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS CONSIDERED AND REJECTED
Option 1: Do not bid - Excluding the Council from this funding limits the potential for the Council to access available funding opportunities. This could also have reputational implications for the Council.
Option 2: Reduce the scheme costs by the grant value ?? to do this could result in fewer homes built and those which are delivered would potentially be built to a lower specification, reduced environmental and energy efficiency standard.