The price sets the reach
Every additional cost has to be paid for. In this model, construction is funded through bonds and the rent services those bonds alongside maintenance and management. A higher funded cost means a higher rent and a higher income needed to afford it.
That makes the construction tender the decisive event before the pilot proceeds. The Trust publishes its specification and its price benchmark. Builders compete to deliver the required home within that discipline.
A reference home and a funded programme
The reference design establishes the underlying cost of materials and labour. Delivering a programme adds contractor costs, professional fees, organisational costs and interest before the homes are occupied. These belong in the funded cost from the outset.
The proposal keeps the lower reference case separate from the costed pilot. The pilot reaches the upper part of the intended income range first. Wider affordability depends on lower tender prices and programme costs spread across more homes.
Risk has to be carried somewhere
Rent collection, empty homes, repairs and construction inflation all affect the model. Maintenance funding, reserves, contractual protections and active management form its defences. A persistent shortfall still requires action.
Publishing those sensitivities makes the limits visible. The Trust must know the point at which rising costs narrow the eligible population so far that the programme loses its purpose. The financial case rests on a controlled delivery cost and a funded plan for the years after completion.