<p>The Housing Corporation is introducing major changes to the way affordable housing grant is allocated. Under the terms of the newly published pre-prospectus for its 2008-11 national affordable housing programme (NAHP), the Corporation will now grant funding over five-year terms for large-scale strategic developments, an increase on the previous three-year maximum. “On large, multi-phase sites, certainty of funding can support long-term planning enabling providers to landbank with confidence,”it stated. </p> <p>The 2008-11 programme will also see increased competition for funds, as the grant pot is opened up to arms length management organisations (ALMOs) and local authority special purpose vehicles, along with RSLs and private sector developers, who were first given the right to bid last year. The Corporation has also committed to streamlining the bidding process, which had been criticised as unduly complex by a number of private developers, who were consequently discouraged from bidding in the last funding round. </p> <p>It is also upping design and environmental demands on partners, with new homes to be built to code for sustainable homes level three and to meet the terms of a fresh set of “design and quality strategy and standards.” Corporation deputy chief executive Steve Douglas said the pre-prospectus would …