The regional government has cut £5.5m from its 2003/4 budget, which funds grants to councils and housing associations.
It usually redistributes any unused grant at the end of the financial year to council schemes that exceed their grant allocation. However, it will not do so this year.
Registered social landlords and councils were informed of the cut on 2 April, in a letter from the assembly.
The Welsh Federation of Housing Associations and the Welsh Local Government Association said they were unsure at this stage how many schemes would be hit as a result.
The assembly's transport and regeneration budgets have also been cut, it is believed.
The money may have been redirected to the health or Supporting People budgets.
The total lack of communication on the clawback is worrying
Howard John, director, Welsh Federation of Housing Associations
Housing groups want to know when the assembly made the decision not to redistribute the funds. Howard John, director of the Welsh Federation of Housing Associations, said: "Social housing grant management has never been the most transparent process but the total lack of communication on this year's clawback is worrying.
"We are working with the Welsh Local Government Association to try to get answers to some crucial questions from the Welsh Assembly. When did the housing directorate know about revised budget objectives?"
A spokesman for Caerphilly council said it would now fund the rest of a proposed 40-bed extra care scheme from the 2004/5 grant, but warned that this would leave less money for new projects.
An assembly spokesman said that previously it had been possible to make last-minute transfers from unspent social housing grant budgets to those schemes that had exceeded grant allocation.
Also, claims for grant submitted after the deadline could, in the past, have been met.
Source
Housing Today
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