Referral of the proposed Affordable Housing Delivery Scheme by the Welsh Government
Source: gov.uk (2025-03-06)

The Subsidy Advice Unit (SAU) has published a report for providing advice to the Welsh Government concerning its proposed Affordable Housing Delivery Scheme.

Administrative timetable

Final report

6 March 2025: The SAU has published its report providing advice to the Welsh Government concerning the proposed Affordable Housing Delivery Scheme. The report sets out the SAU’s evaluation of the Welsh Government’s Assessment of Compliance of its proposed scheme with the requirements set out in the Subsidy Control Act 2022.
- Final report (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/report-on-the-proposed-affordable-housing-delivery-scheme-by-the-welsh-government) (6.3.25)
Request from the Welsh Government

24 January 2025: The SAU has accepted a request for a report from the Welsh Government concerning its proposed Affordable Housing Delivery Scheme. This request relates to a Subsidy Scheme of Particular Interest.

The SAU will prepare a report, which will provide an evaluation of the Welsh Government’s assessment of whether the scheme complies with the subsidy control requirements (Assessment of Compliance). The SAU will complete its report within 30 working days.

Information about the scheme provided by the Welsh Government

The Welsh Government is proposing to create a £5.53 billion scheme for the development and acquisition of affordable housing in Wales.

The scheme will run from 20 March 2025 to 31 March 2031. Under the scheme, Local Authorities and Registered Social Landlords will be able to apply for funding (a direct grant or loan).

The purpose of this subsidy scheme is to provide subsidies for the development and acquisition of affordable housing in Wales. The Scheme aims to:
- support the increase of supply of good quality affordable homes
- work towards ending homelessness
- enable move on from temporary accommodation
- support the increase in supply of housing to meet the needs of people with support and care needs
Affordable housing will include social housing provided by local authorities and registered social landlords (where rent levels are set in accordance with Welsh Government rent policy) and intermediate housing (where prices or rents are above those of social rented housing but below commercial market housing prices or rents).

The desired outcome is the on-going provision of affordable housing as without the Scheme this would either not be supplied in an appropriate way, or not be supplied at all by the market.

Without the support envisaged under the Scheme, local authorities and registered social landlords would not be able to purchase, develop or maintain these homes due to insufficient rates of return on the rental income which results in a viability gap.

The subsidy will support the following activities:
- acquisition of land for use for affordable housing schemes
- development of General Needs social and intermediate rent housing schemes for families/individuals without support requirements with social landlords procuring development partners to build the homes
- development of General Needs housing schemes for shared ownership
- development of General Needs social housing schemes for older persons who can live independently and Extra Care housing for those who may require additional support
- development of new social and intermediate housing schemes via package deals brought to social landlords and delivered by developers
- development of supported housing for individuals with care and support needs (settled and temporary accommodation)
- increased supply of affordable homes through the redevelopment of voids, the acquisition of existing dwellings and new build properties from developers or the demolition, development / conversion of properties into family or other accommodation
Information for third parties

If you wish to comment on matters relevant to the SAU’s evaluation of the Assessment of Compliance concerning the Welsh Government’s proposed Affordable Housing Delivery Scheme, please send your comments on the date stipulated in the timetable above.

For guidance on representations relevant to the Assessment of Compliance, see the section on reporting period and transparency in the Operation of the subsidy control functions of the Subsidy Advice Unit (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-on-the-operation-of-the-subsidy-control-functions-of-the-subsidy-advice-unit/operation-of-the-subsidy-control-functions-of-the-subsidy-advice-unit).

Please send your submissions to the public authority xxx@xxx.xx (mailto:xxx@xxx.xx)

Please also provide a contact address and explain in what capacity you are making the submission (for example, as an individual or a representative of a business or organisation).

Notes to third parties wishing to make a submission

The SAU will only take your submission into account if it can be shared with the Welsh Government. The SAU will send a copy of your submission to the Welsh Government together with its report. This is to allow the public authority to take account of the submission in its decision as to whether to make or modify the scheme or its assessment. We therefore ask that you provide express consent for your full and unredacted submission to be shared. We also encourage you to share your submission directly with the Welsh Government using the email address provided above.

The SAU may use the information you provide in its published report. Therefore, you should indicate in your submission whether any specified parts of it are commercially confidential. If the SAU wishes to refer in its published report to material identified as confidential, it will contact you in advance.

For further details on confidentiality of third party submissions, see identifying confidential information in the Operation of the subsidy control functions of the Subsidy Advice Unit (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-on-the-operation-of-the-subsidy-control-functions-of-the-subsidy-advice-unit/operation-of-the-subsidy-control-functions-of-the-subsidy-advice-unit).

Contacts
- CMA press team: xx-xxxx-xxxx or xxx@xxx.xx (mailto:xxx@xxx.xx)