Under the £10m Innovation Fund for 2011/12, the Scottish Government is seeking to attract bid applications that offer new approaches to the funding and delivery of affordable housing, particularly through the introduction of new forms of funding and financial and delivery models.
Applications will be accepted from a range of organisations, including private sector bodies, housing associations, local authorities (including the City of Edinburgh and the City of Glasgow councils) and other landlords.
The Scottish Government is seeking to support a wide range of proposals that offer new approaches to the funding and delivery of affordable housing. Bids will be expected to be:
- innovative;
- offer value for money;
- reflect an acceptable level of risk;
- support the local authority housing strategy and reflect their priorities for investment; and
- provide quality houses and sustainable places in which to live.
Please download a copy of the bid documentation from the link below:
You may wish to refer to the specific sections of the bid documentation from time to time and therefore we have provided you with separate links to these sections below:
- Annex A - The Core Criteria - these are the essential requirements that all bidding organisations must satisfy in their application and against which all bids will assessed at the initial sift stage;
- Annex B - Guidelines for making an bid - which set out the information required from bidders and to assist them in making an application;
- Annex C - Assessment Framework - information on the assessment criteria against which all bids will be assessed;
- Annex D - Contact information - details of who to approach in the Scottish Government if additional guidance or explanations are required; and
As referred to in the bid document, the technical Value for Money (VfM) Housing Economic Appraisal Tool (*HEAT) is now available, together with a detailed summary on the VfM scoring for the Housing Innovation Fund.
*The HEAT spreadsheet requires Microsoft Excel to function. It is unlikely to work properly in any other software package. The file has been tested on Office XP, 2003 and 2007 but should work on later versions. It requires that security levels are set such that "Macros" are able to run. This is in the Tools, Options, Security, Macro Security settings. In some installations of office, it may be necessary to add the "Analysis Toolpack - VBA" add-in from the Tools, Add-ins menu. To function at its best, the package should be downloaded rather than being run in a web browser.
All bidders must complete an application form and submit it electronically along with any additional supporting information they may wish to provide, no later than Tuesday 31 May 2011.
The application form can be downloaded here.
Please click here to read points of clarification and responses to questions.
We will publish additional guidance and information to reflect feedback and further information needs of potential bidders.