Homes England launches service to address section 106 issue

Homes England has launched a service to connect housebuilders and housing associations to address the problem of uncontracted and unsold affordable homes across England.

Under the Section 106 Affordable Housing Clearing Service, housebuilders can give details of affordable homes they have planning permission to build but have been unable to find a buyer for. Housing associations (HAs) and local authorities (LAs) can view this information on the database. Housebuilders, HAs and LAs must register to use the service.

The service has launched in response to an increasing lack of bids for affordable homes from HAs, due to various financial and policy constraints. Yesterday (December 17), the Home Builders Federation revealed that at least 17,432 section 106 affordable housing units with detailed planning permission are currently uncontracted.

In its Bid Farewell report, HBF states that private sector housing delivery now accounts for around 44% of all new affordable homes through section 106 (s106) developer contributions.

But in recent years, the number of registered providers actively bidding for s106 affordable homes has reduced. HAs face costs from remediation and inflation and pressure from reduced capacity and a limit on social rent increases.

As detailed in HBF’s …