Homes England

The complainant has requested information about a grant awarded to an affordable homes project. Homes England (‘HE’) disclosed information within scope of part [c] of the request and withheld information within scope of parts [a] and [b] under section 44(1)(a) of FOIA (prohibitions on disclosure). HE subsequently advised that the information requested at part [a] has now been published and is therefore exempt under section 21(1)(information accessible to applicant by other means). HE also withdrew its reliance on section 44 in respect of the information requested at [b] and now considers that this information is exempt from disclosure under section 43(2) of FOIA (commercial interests). The Commissioner’s decision is as follows: HE is entitled to withhold information within scope of part [b] of the complainant’s request under section 43(2) of FOIA and the public interest favours maintaining this exemption. The Commissioner does not require HE to take any corrective steps.