Community Housing Programme Management Support

The Isle of Wight Council (\"the Authority\") invites Tenders from suitably qualified providers (\"Tenderers\") for the provision of Community Housing Fund Programme Management Support. The contract is to run from 01 February 2018 to 31 January 2021.

In 2016 the Government announced a new Community Led Housing (CLH) Programme. This provides annual ring-fenced funding to Local Authorities to assist with both capital and revenue costs in the delivery of Community Led Housing schemes in their administrative area. The £60 million fund was allocated based on an assessment of the level of second home ownership and affordability of housing in individual Local Authority areas. The Isle of Wight Council was awarded a total of £1,567,252 in financial year 2016/17.

The objective of the new programme is to:

'Enable local community groups deliver affordable housing units of mixed tenure on sites which are likely to be of little interest to mainstream housebuilders and will thereby contribute to the overall national effort to boost housing supply.'

This funding is needed on the Isle of Wight due to the number of second homes and the relative lack of affordability of housing based on the differential between the average price of housing and average annual earnings. The national affordability ratio shows a worsening picture for the Isle of Wight with an increasing gap between average earnings and house prices. 2016 figures show that an average house would cost 7.8 times average annual earnings compared to 3.9 times in 2000.

Despite significant effort and due to limiting factors such as market failure and the cost and availability of land, the stock of affordable housing to meet current and projected need on the Isle of Wight is proving difficult to deliver. Reports tell us that there is a need for single occupancy affordable units for young people who may be 'sofa surfing'; for supported housing for the elderly, those with mental health problems or physical disabilities; and for housing to address homelessness.

This new source of funding offers the opportunity to reassess the approach to community led delivery of affordable housing. It has the potential to assist with delivering 'traditional' approaches for small scale developments of affordable units and to investigate more innovative ways to approach community led housing.

Geographic communities such as Parish and Town Councils or communities of interest such as Age UK, YMCA, Mencap and the Richmond Fellowship can identify need for their area or their clients and work with them to address this in a more self-sufficient and inclusive way. Such an approach has the potential to reduce the need for ongoing public sector involvement by building in the necessary community support structures to enable people to be more healthy and fulfilled in their day to day lives.

The closing date for receipt of Tenders is 14:00 on 12 December 2017.