Housing Minister Christopher Pincher MP has announced that ARA Venn will manage the government’s £3bn Affordable Homes Guarantee Scheme (AHGS 2020).

The AHGS will help to finance affordable homes across England, including for social rent, affordable rent and shared ownership.

The funding will provide low-cost, flexible loans that will support registered providers to deliver their development plans and create affordable homes. The scheme will be complementary to the new Affordable Homes Programme.

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The government has also published the scheme rules, helping Registered Providers to plan ahead and prepare their applications for the support.

The scheme will be formally opened for applications in the coming weeks, with the first loans to be delivered next year.

Pincher said: “Ensuring everyone has the opportunity to access a secure, affordable home is central to the mission of this government and our £3 billion Affordable Homes Guarantee scheme will play a vital part in achieving this.

ARA Venn’s wealth of investment expertise will prove invaluable to delivering another 17,000 much-needed new affordable homes to families across the country.”

Richard Green, partner and portfolio manager of AHGS20, at ARA Venn, said: “We are delighted to have been appointed as the manager of the new Affordable Housing Guarantee Scheme.

“The scheme will offer registered providers very attractively priced long-term loans to support the vital housing that they provide.

“We look forward to establishing the scheme as a key partner to support the vision and ambition of the social housing industry.

“The ARA Group has a strong commitment to Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG), firmly believing in long term responsible investment and delivering a positive social impact from this scheme is a reflection of that.”