Affordable Housing

The Affordable Housing Programme of the Housing Department of the Velocity Interoperability Network will deliver 1,200 homes for the staff of member organisations and citizens of the Velocity Interoperability Network by 31 December 2028. Every home under the programme is let at a rent no higher than 70 per cent of the comparable market rent, and every home is let through the Housing Register.

The programme was published on 6 September 2026, the day of the Department's establishment. It is delivered in two phases. The first phase of 340 homes is being built at the six principal sites of the Network and will be complete by 30 June 2027. The second phase of 860 homes will be announced in the Newsroom once its sites have been confirmed with the member organisations concerned.

Completions. The figures below record the position of the programme at establishment. They will be updated in the Department's quarterly statistical release.

1,200

Homes to be delivered under the programme by 31 December 2028

340

Homes in the first phase, complete by 30 June 2027

96

Homes completed and available for letting from 21 September 2026

214

Homes under construction at three sites

The first phase. Ninety-six homes were completed by member organisations during the transition period and handed to the Department on establishment. A further 214 homes are under construction at Central Exchange, Southbank Terminal and Westbrook Distribution Site, and the conversion of 30 homes at Meridian Court begins in October 2026. The schedule below gives the planned completion date at each site and the month from which the homes will be offered.

The first phase provides homes of one to four bedrooms in the mix shown below. The mix was settled against the composition of the households carried over to the Housing Register from the waiting lists of member organisations, and will be reviewed for the second phase against the register as it stands in the spring of 2027.

How the programme works. The programme rests on four principles, which apply to every home delivered under it.

Rents

Every home under the programme is let at a rent no higher than 70 per cent of the comparable market rent for a home of its size at its site. The comparable rent is determined by the Department's rent assessment before the home is first let, and the rent is reviewed once a year on 1 April in the same way as every other Department tenancy.

Allocation

Homes are let only to households on the Housing Register, in band order and, within each band, in date order. A household is offered a home of the size its assessment shows it needs. There is no separate list for programme homes and no application other than the register.

Standard

Every home is inspected against the Housing Standard before the Department accepts it, and is let with a kitchen, bathroom, heating and insulation that meet the standard in full. Homes under the programme are inspected again at the end of their first year.

Delivery

Homes are built by member organisations on land at their own sites under agreements with the Department, and are transferred to the Department on completion. The Department lets and manages them from that point on the terms of its standard tenancy agreement.

70%

Ceiling on rent as a proportion of the comparable market rent

6

Principal sites at which first-phase homes are being delivered

244

First-phase homes still to be completed between January and June 2027

860

Homes in the second phase, at sites to be confirmed

From completion to letting. Every home under the programme passes through the same four steps between its completion and the start of its first tenancy. The steps are expected to take no more than six weeks.

1. 1

   Step 1: The home is inspected and accepted

   On completion the Department inspects the home against the Housing Standard. Defects found at inspection are made good by the member organisation before the home is accepted into the Department's stock.

2. 2

   Step 2: The rent is set

   The Department's rent assessment determines the comparable market rent for the home and sets the rent at no more than 70 per cent of it. The rent is recorded before the home is offered.

3. 3

   Step 3: The home is offered

   The home is offered to the household highest on the Housing Register whose assessed need matches its size. The household is given seven days to view the home and accept or refuse the offer.

4. 4

   Step 4: The tenancy begins

   The household signs the standard tenancy agreement, pays a deposit of no more than five weeks' rent into the Department's deposit scheme and receives the keys on the agreed date.

Questions about the programme, including from member organisations proposing sites for the second phase, may be sent to contact@housing.gov.vin. For who may apply for a home and how applications are banded, see the Housing Register; for the terms on which homes are let, see Tenancies; for answers to common questions, see the frequently asked questions.