Homes England received double the amount of grant applications compared to the previous round
We built and launched a new online service which made £3.5bn of affordable homes funding available via a more efficient grants application process
Homes England’s Affordable Homes programme plays an important part in the provision of affordable housing around the country.
Result
Working in partnership, we made the application process for strategic partners (large scale home builders) more transparent, easier to understand and use. This meant fewer frustrations and delays for applicants and a reduced administrative workload for staff. As well as a simpler and more effective process to build affordable homes overall.
What problem were we there to solve?
There were several factors that made it difficult for investors and partners to submit a proposal, for example:
- home builders who were interested in becoming strategic partners didn’t understand the programme requirements
- the application process was based on collecting proposal information via spreadsheets
- tight timescales to prepare and modify proposals
Guidance for applicants wasn’t always clear and lots of clarifications were needed between organisations and the Homes England team. The information provided by applicants was often incorrect and sometimes sections were missed by mistake. This meant a prolonged and inefficient process. It was hard for staff to validate data and there was no version control so changes to applications couldn’t be tracked easily.
What we did
Alpha
In alpha, we explored different solutions by co-designing and iterating new approaches for submitting proposals. We proposed a web-based service which would improve the affordable homes application process for existing, and new, strategic partners.
We also identified the importance of guidance so that users knew what to expect from the process and had time to prepare applications, reducing errors when submitting a proposal.
In addition, we recognised that it was important to users that they have an opportunity to present the qualitative aspects of their proposal and demonstrate the unique value they can offer.
Beta
In beta, the team had 3 months to build and release a working service so strategic partners could submit proposals for grant funding when the bidding window opened.
To meet the tight deadlines, it was essential to take a ‘minimum viable’ approach to make the work a success. This timeline also included creating and publishing the new user-centred guidance.
Live
By working in a blended team which brought together our service design and technical expertise with Homes England’s domain expertise, we were able to build a solution for a complex issue to a tight, fixed deadline.
The new guidance was published on GOV.UK 6 weeks before the application window opened, which gave strategic partners time to familiarise themselves with the programme requirements. The new web application was launched in time and was available for submissions throughout the application window.
Following the launch of the service, Homes England received 54 applications for funding which was double the previous number. Only 3 clarifications were needed, in contrast with the previous system where many applications needed multiple clarifications before funding could be granted.
Following testing, we were able to confirm that the service has the potential to be re-used on other funding programmes within the Affordable Homes programme.