Secondly, the quality of bids has been impressive. Selecting which schemes to recommend for funding has created a real headache for the independent panel. And finally, I've met many organisations across all of Wales since I launched this year's programme in February, all wanting to participate in the IHP programme. I've been struck by their flair, enthusiasm and sheer entrepreneurialism to try and work with us to figure out what type of homes we can and should be building. Indeed, the IHP community has grown this year to include over 300 businesses. Regular IHP events have been hosted across Wales to enable the learning from earlier years of the programme to be disseminated. These events have proved extremely popular, stimulating conversation and fresh ideas, as well as growing professional and organisational networks of like-minded people to come together to figure out what’s possible.

Collaboration is key. No single organisation can solve all of the issues we face on their own. So, growing the IHP community has been a priority this year, and I am really pleased to see the emerging collaborations. Examples include the joining together of organisational resources to eliminate fuel poverty, build near-zero-carbon homes, and test new approaches to building homes, which can then be retrofitted to existing ones. The sheer amount and quality of applications demonstrates that people know Wales is open for business, that this Government welcomes forward-thinking organisations interested in helping to address the housing challenges we face as a nation, and that the Welsh Government is keen to work with those in the market and affordable sectors to deliver the homes we need. I want to see homes built in Wales using these new methods, and I also want to see the new supply chains and jobs that come with these new methods created in Wales.

And of course, acting Presiding Officer, I should thank my predecessors, Rebecca Evans and Carl Sargeant. They had the courage to create the innovative housing programme in order to seek out new approaches to affordable house building in Wales. Funding innovation, by its very nature, carries risk. They had the vision to recognise that, whilst not every funded scheme would become the solution of the future, it was only through embracing and encouraging the sector to think creatively that we would find scalable new approaches.

In this third year, I wanted to push the programme further and set the bar even higher. I want more affordable homes more quickly. So, I challenged the sector to bring forward schemes that upscaled the tester schemes this Government invested in previously. I asked for schemes at scale, and the sector has delivered. The average size of the schemes funded will triple between year two and year three of the programme. I challenged the sector to give me near-zero-carbon homes, and again, they have responded magnificently with a swathe of schemes delivering at least EPC A levels of energy performance. Lastly, I challenged the sector to bring me beautifully designed homes, to help deliver great place making. Once again, they have fulfilled this challenge. This programme has some great designs, which I look forward to visiting once plans have been transformed into bricks and mortar, or, increasingly common, new materials and modes of construction that bring them to life.

The IHP programme has now invested in 55 schemes to build social housing and affordable homes. The schemes I announce today see a further £33 million of funding invested, meaning 600 new homes will get under way this year—much-needed new homes, for those who need them most. I am also delighted to see schemes submitted from 19 different local authority areas across Wales. This demonstrates that in most areas of Wales there is now a growing willingness and appetite for change in the sector.

I am always mindful that whilst building more homes is vital, what matters equally is how they are built. This is not just a numbers game. This programme is committed to supporting SMEs in Wales, the Welsh timber industry, local supply chains and local labour pools. Through this investment, we aim to build homes our future generations will truly thank us for. It is with this eye firmly on the future that IHP programme applications are framed around the well-being of future generations commitments. A full list of successful bidders will be published shortly, but I’ll just give you a flavour of those I will be supporting going forward.

Clwyd Alyn Housing Association will be funded to build 76 homes in Ruthin, north Wales. These could be the first in the UK to deliver net zero, whole-life carbon, with renewable energy offsetting the carbon impact of production and construction. Homes will have air source heat pumps, solar power and intelligent batteries, with heating and lighting costs estimated at less than £80 a year for tenants. I will fund two sites developed by Monmouthshire Housing Association in Chepstow to create 17 properties for people who are downsizing and first-time occupiers whose households might expand. The homes will have designed-in opportunities to add an additional bedroom to create life-long flexibility, so homes can grow and adapt to ageing and to changing populations. I am excited about Cartrefi Conwy’s scheme to deliver 32 zero-carbon homes over two sites using the Beattie Passive timber-frame, off-site construction approach. The scheme also demonstrates a normalising of the innovation supported previously, to a level that would not need the support of the innovative housing programme in a short space of time. I do not believe the tenure of a property should be obvious from the outside of a home, nor do I see any reason why communities should not be truly mixed. I am pleased to fund Cardiff council, together with Sero Homes, to build 214 low-carbon homes, a mix of council housing and homes to be sold on the open market in Rumney—all beautifully designed, of course.

As well as capital funding, I have made available a small amount of revenue funding. Yellow Sub Geo propose to develop a feasibility screening tool. This will identify and prioritise the potential for employing low-carbon energy and heat sources across the varied geography, weather, geology and hydrogeology in Wales. The approach will allow users to make better-informed decisions around the choice and use of low-carbon energy and heat options available in a given area. It will be a digital screening tool, accessed through a web user interface, open source and free to users. It will be hosted by a not-for-profit entity, meaning that its primary purpose is to engender social and environmental change.

Our challenge is to build genuinely mixed communities, with more homes that are truly affordable. And we need to act now if we are going to deal with the climate and demographic changes that are already upon us. This third year of IHP proves that solutions to many of these challenges are available right now. Furthermore, the overwhelmingly positive response to the programme from housing associations, local authorities and private small and medium-sized enterprises shows that I am not alone in being prepared to do things differently—not alone in being prepared to take more risks, and have the will and ambition to build more and build better. To this end, I have asked officials to revisit the applications for this year’s IHP, and work across ministerial portfolios, to see what support can be provided to applications that didn’t secure IHP funding this time, but can help this Government deliver on our housing priorities.

I intend that the homes built with IHP today will become the norm for homes receiving social housing grant, and other sources of Government funding, in the future. What may be regarded as novel approaches now will soon be considered mainstream. Be reassured: investing this £33 million today will help bring forward and mainstream the high-quality homes of tomorrow. Diolch.