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The new strategic partnership money is helping us to accelerate the construction of affordable housing

Following the announcement of more money for strategic partnerships, Jonathan Layzell outlines how they are helping to speed up the construction of affordable homes

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Following the announcement of more money for strategic partnerships, Jonathan Layzell of @StonewaterUK outlines how they are helping to speed up the construction of affordable homes #ukhousing

The new strategic partnership money is helping us to accelerate the construction of affordable housing, says Jonathan Layzell of @StonewaterUK #ukhousing

The announcement at the end of last month by communities secretary James Brokenshire of a further £1bn being made available under Homes England’s strategic partnerships initiative was very welcome news. It is something we at Stonewater are definitely keen to explore bidding for.

I was in Manchester at the Housing 2019 conference, where the secretary of state was speaking. I and my other senior Stonewater colleagues were there doing what we have been doing ever since October last year when we were announced as part of the largest Homes England strategic partnership to date: working with partners on how to deliver.

Our strategic partnership is with The Guinness Partnership, and together we are receiving £224m to begin building 4,500 high-quality, affordable homes by March 2022.


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In his speech, Mr Brokenshire emphasised the need for innovation in approach to make sure the most is made of the long-term certainty that additional grant provides.

Key areas include investing in land, building using modern methods of construction (MMC) and supporting local SMEs as a key part of our supply chain. So what can I report in the eight months since Stonewater became a Homes England strategic partner?

“The longer-term nature of the strategic partnership funding has allowed us to buy several large sites across England where we will build hundreds of high-quality homes of a range of tenures over the coming years”

First, I am pleased to say that we have made progress in all these areas and more. The longer-term nature of the strategic partnership funding has allowed us to buy several large sites across England where we will build hundreds of high-quality homes of a range of tenures over the coming years.

These include sites in Newhaven in Sussex and Castle Cary in Somerset – both of which will deliver more than 100 homes each – and a site in Kidderminster that will deliver more than 50 homes.

All three were funded in part or in total by strategic partnership funding, and there are more sites – large and small – in the pipeline across England.

We are working with SME partners to ensure we maximise the local economic benefit of our housing investment in all our communities. For instance, with STG in Yorkshire on our site at Cookridge in Leeds, and with Living Space in Kidderminster.

And we are in discussions with partners over how best MMC can help us to accelerate the construction of desirable, defect-free homes that people will be proud to live in for generations to come.

This may involve Stonewater partnering with existing manufacturers, or it may see us working with others to invest in a new facility. Perhaps a combination of both approaches will serve us best.

“Our confirmed strategic partnership pipeline also includes homes for social rent and Rent to Buy”

Most importantly, however, we have already begun building more than 100 affordable and shared ownership homes as a direct result of the additional funding we received as a strategic partner. By the end of 2019 this figure will have risen by hundreds more.

Our confirmed strategic partnership pipeline also includes homes for social rent and Rent to Buy.

This follows on from Stonewater’s total completions in 2018/19 of 548 homes for social rent, affordable rent, shared ownership and Rent to Buy, in which we invested £77m – including £1.9m in Homes England grant. In total last year, Stonewater invested £108m in our overall development pipeline to accelerate our construction programme over the next few years to deliver 1,500 homes each year.

There are of course challenges in all of this. Finding appropriate land, ensuring funds are in place, and focusing more on Stonewater as a developer than simply buying off-the-shelf Section 106 properties.

Yet, as was the case at Housing 2019, we are fully focused on working with partners to deliver our commitments. It is not always easy, but it is what makes the work we do as a developing housing association so important – and we are enjoying every moment.

Jonathan Layzell, executive director – development, Stonewater

A guide to strategic partnerships and the deals announced so far

A guide to strategic partnerships and the deals announced so far

Under strategic partnerships, housing associations agree to increase their development programmes by a specified number of homes in return for extra funding for the government.

Unlike some other government funding programmes, they can use the new funding flexibly across their development programme, determining the tenure of affordable homes closer to completion following negotiations with Homes England.

The following housing associations were confirmed as strategic partners on 30 January 2019:

Housing associationGrantNo of additional starts to March 2022
Bromford£66.4m1,400
Curo and Swan£51.1m1,067
Liverpool Mutual Homes and Torus£66.4m1,757
Longhurst and Nottingham Community Housing Association£71.7m1,685
Together Housing Group£53m1,152
WHG£38.7m1,000
Yorkshire Housing£61.8m1,300
Your Housing Group£87.5m2,315

 

Homes England announced the following partnerships in October 2018:

Housing associationGrantNo of additional starts to 31 March 2022
Guinness/Stonewater£224m4,500
Optivo£44.9m1,000
Orbit£128.8m2,762
Platform Housing Group£71.8m1,800
Southern Housing Group£55.1m1,005
Thirteen£40m1,000
Vivid£88.2m1,408

Table published by Homes England on 31 October 2018

 

Homes England also earlier this year confirmed the following partnerships:

Housing associationGrantNo of additional affordable starts to 31 March 2022
EMH Group£30.5m748
Great Places£29.2m750
Home Group£85m2,300
Hyde£95.4m1,623
L&Q£85m1,724
Matrix Partnership£77m2,257
Places for People£74m2,603
Sovereign/Liverty£111.5m2,275

Table published by Homes England on 3 July 2018

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