What happened to… Sanctuary bringing all development in-house?

“The quality, contract management, we’ve spread that across the whole programme. We’re pretty focused on getting a consistent product. It’s not acceptable to deliver different products across the country; we should focus on getting as high a quality as we can everywhere,” he says.

Its employment management services have also shifted mostly in-house – that is quantity surveyors, managing contractors on site and employing labourers and tradespeople. (A struggle to get qualified staff is the reason this is not yet at 100%).

But when it comes to taking over entire developments, it is a bit more complicated than our story of 2016. Mr Martin estimates that its in-house team is doing about 18 jobs at the moment, making up about 25-30% of what is under construction.

Like many associations, its annual development target has also slimmed down from the heady days of 2016, to more like 1,600 a year.

What happened to plans to take on the whole job?

In some areas – particularly in Scotland – there are “local suppliers who rely on us, who have worked for us for 20 years. We weren’t just about to abandon them.” Mr Martin says.

So where is Sanctuary building its own homes?

Mr Martin says that Sanctuary has built up “hubs”, particularly in areas of England where there has been a trend for main contractors who once did this work to close down. This is where Sanctuary’s hubs can step in and add value – it has set one up in Liverpool, and is working on Worcester and the Midlands, and around Leeds, Sheffield and Hull.

These hubs manage projects in-house for Sanctuary, and can also take on apprentices and give them continuity of training over three or four years. Its biggest in-house building project is in Worcestershire (see picture) and is using factory-built homes.

Is the plan still to get to 100% in-house contracting one day?

Sanctuary has moved away from doing Section 106 deals now – Mr Martin says “that’s not for us”. But, he adds, “we’ll always rely a certain amount on package deals. In certain parts of the country that’s just how you build houses – it’s hard to arrive in rural Scotland and just buy land.”

How about using that contracting arm to do jobs outside of Sanctuary?

“We’ve done it already,” Mr Martin says. The association has been building homes for Cheshire West Council. Whether there is more of this work in Sanctuary’s future is a bit unclear, however, because he says that while “we’re happy to talk to people”, he quickly adds: “We’ve got enough on our plate.”