Priority Homes

Jump to:

• What is Priority Homes?
• What is PFI?
• Why use Housing PFI in Woking?
• Tell me more about Woking's Housing PFI project
• Where will the homes be built in Woking?
• What will be built at Moor Lane? 
• What is the timetable for the way forward?
• Where can I feedback my views/comments?
• Useful contacts

What is Priority Homes?

Providing affordable housing is Woking Borough Council's highest priority and 'Priority Homes - Putting Affordable Housing First' is a Housing Private Finance Initiative (PFI) project. 

This project provides a great opportunity to deliver much-needed affordable housing for the Borough, so we are pursuing this option with enthusiasm.

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What is PFI?

A Private Finance Initiative or PFI is one form of public private partnership that is used for projects that require a lot of money. PFI has been used for many years to successfully build new schools, roads, prisons and hospitals. Since 1999, PFI has enabled councils to secure a large amount of private money which can be used to build new homes or improve existing ones. This is called Housing PFI.

There are tight controls on how councils can raise and spend money. At present, there are few ways a council can raise enough money to pay for the cost of building new council homes on its own.

PFI is a Government programme to bring private investment into social housing by allowing local authorities to work with a partnership of specialist organisations to build new homes or improve properties already owned by the Council. This partnership usually includes:

• a housing association,  Registered Social Landlord (RSL) or housing provider

• a construction company

• a funder.

The partnership is also known as the PFI Contractor. The PFI contractor usually enters into a 25 to 30-year contract with a local authority to design, finance, build, manage and maintain the properties to a high standard.

The PFI contractor is paid a fixed fee for these services and can lose some of its fee if the properties do not meet the standards agreed between the contractor and the council.

A PFI project can be good for a local authority because it means that a council can make use of their partners' areas of expertise, such as building homes or raising money. The risk involved in building and financing new homes within budget and on time is taken by the contractor. If a project does not meet the standards, the contractor does not get the full payment agreed.

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Why use Housing PFI in Woking?

The provision of affordable housing is Woking's highest priority and PFI is just one way in which the Council can provide affordable homes in the Borough.

Currently, there is a greater need for affordable homes than there is supply.

House prices in Woking are higher than the national average and this means that average incomes in the Borough are not enough for people to buy a family home in the area.

Research carried out in 2003 by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation showed that Woking is one of 40 least affordable local authorities to buy a home. Over 75% of working households in Woking, where the household representative is aged from 20 to 39, are unable to afford a home at the lower end of the price scale, on household income alone. This puts even more pressure on the affordable homes coming on to the market and means continued demand for homes in the Borough.

Over the last few years, Woking Borough Council has introduced many measures to increase the supply of affordable homes in the Borough. These include:

• Working with private developers and housing associations to build homes which are let to households on the Housing Register.

• Working with owners of empty homes to bring them back into use.

• Working with private landlords to secure long-term lets for their properties, such as through the Private Rented Scheme and Private Sector Leasing Scheme.

• Working pro-actively to prevent homelessness through our Housing Options team.

• Reviewing planning guidance to require higher levels of affordable housing on new development sites.

Despite all these initiatives, 466 new affordable homes are needed each year, for the next five years, to meet the growing housing need in the Borough.

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Tell me more about Woking's Housing PFI project

Woking Borough Council's project will provide the Borough with brand new affordable rented homes. This project is called "Priority Homes - Putting Affordable Housing First".

Woking has secured approval for £44 million worth of PFI funding 'credits' from Communities and Local Government (CLG) following submission of an Outline Business Case (OBC) and is now going through the process of seeking a PFI contractor partner to build the homes and maintain them for the agreed period.  The PFI contractor is selected as part of a bidding process, which can take many months. 

The OBC provided supporting evidence to justify why Woking's PFI bid is the best way to provide around 190 affordable rented homes in the Borough and that there are no better or cheaper ways of providing these homes.

Tenants of these new homes will be housing association tenants not Woking Borough Council tenants. Tenants will not be able to buy these homes and therefore they will remain as affordable housing in the Borough.

Our proposal is to build around 190 homes which will be let at affordable rent to applicants on the Council's Housing Register and will be allocated through Hometrak, the Council's Choice Based Lettings system.  The homes will be part of a mixed tenure development of around 470 homes (current planning policy allows a maximum of 50 dwellings per hectare), built on a single site in the Borough.

Once the homes have been built, the PFI credits will be paid directly to the Council by the Government over the period of the contract. The Council will then pay these PFI credits, plus a Council contribution to the PFI contractor.

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Where will the homes be built in Woking?

The new homes will be built on a single site in the Borough. The site, Moor Lane in Westfield,  has been identified following a thorough review of all the available options. Moor Lane has been reserved for future housing development for a long time.  The boundary for the site was adopted in the 1993 Local Plan.

Further information on Moor Lane (Westfield) and a Moor Lane site map.

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What will be built at Moor Lane? 

There will be a range of property types and sizes in line with the Borough's demand for housing but most will be family homes. The development will be a mix of social rented, shared ownership and private sale housing. 

The exact details of the homes will not be decided until a detailed planning application is submitted. This will happen at a later stage in the project. It is hoped that building on Moor Lane will improve the local environment,  create a sustainable community,  as well as provide much needed housing for people of the Borough.

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What is the timetable for the way forward?

Subject to approval at each stage, the key dates for the project are as follows:

Please note: The above timetable may be subject to change.

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Where can I feedback my views/comments?

If you have any comments regarding the Priority Homes project please contact us:

Online comments and queries form

Priority Homes
Woking Borough Council
Civic Offices
Gloucester Square
Woking
Surrey
GU21 6YL

Tel: 01483 755855

Email: priorityhomes@woking.gov.uk

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Useful contacts

The following links to external websites may be of interest to you.

• CLG

• The Housing Corporation

• 4ps