Social housing third tranche set to be delivered quickly

The long-delayed third round of privately financed social housing has been launched amid pledges to deliver this tranche more speedily than the previous two rounds.
The third round, worth a combined £685m, is part of a £3bn programme aimed at bringing 170,000 homes up to the government's Decent Homes standard.
It involves nine PFI schemes (see box), some of which will be new build rather than only refurbishment as in previous
rounds.
Efforts to streamline the procurement process could see all nine schemes brought to financial close in around 18 months, by using standardised documentation known as the Procurement Pack.
Previous social housing tranches have come in for criticism from bidders for the agonisingly slow procurement timetable of around three to four years. The inclusion of new build schemes is also expected to increase market interest.
Steve Trueman of the Public Private Partnership Programme (4Ps), which has developed the third round in joint venture with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, said: "There are a significant number of Non-Housing Revenue Account new build schemes in this round, unlike in previous rounds. I would think that since new build is a lot simpler, this round will attract more potential bidders. We are also hoping this round will be significantly faster with the help of the Procurement Pack."