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G15 associations completed 11,000 homes in 2020 despite COVID impact, figures reveal
London’s largest housing associations completed 11,000 new homes in the past 12 months, latest figures have shown.
Figures from the G15, which represents the capital’s 12 largest associations, show that its members built 11,056 homes in 2020/21. Affordable housing made up 72% of all homes built, while open-market sale accounted for a fifth of new homes and 7.5% were for private rent.
According to the G15, its members started work on 10,951 new homes in the last year, 85% of which are affordable – the highest proportion in the last six years and 10% higher than starts in 2019/20.
The associations have been tackling the impact of COVID-19 and escalating building safety costs on their operations throughout 2020. The group also started 1,050 social rent homes in the 12-month period, the largest number of this tenure since 2015/16.
New market-sale starts fell from 22% of total starts in 2019/20 to just under 12% in 2020/21, whereas the proportion of new homes for shared ownership that started on site is up by around 3% year on year.
The G15 group revealed in February that costs to fix issues with its 600,000 properties were estimated to total £2.9bn between 2019/20 and 2031/32.
Under the latest Affordable Homes Programme (AHP) settlement for London, which will run between 2021 and 2026, £4bn will be allocated via the Greater London Authority for affordable housing delivery. The government also announced earlier this month that it would consider a higher grant rate for shared ownership homes via the AHP.
Geeta Nanda, G15 chair and chief executive of Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing (MTVH), commented: “Building the new homes that people across the country so desperately need is incredibly important and these latest figures show the massive contribution G15 members are making to tackling the housing crisis.
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“The last 18 months have been some of the hardest I can ever recall, especially with the initial site shutdowns that were required, and the challenges social distancing presented on construction sites.
“With that in mind, to have delivered the second-largest number of new homes in any year since 2015/16 is testimony to the hard work and commitment of our colleagues and partners.
“However, we are seeing some challenges from shortages of labour and materials, which are contributing to rising construction costs.
“We will continue to work with our contractors and suppliers to mitigate these risks as far as possible, but they do point to longer-term issues that will need addressing, such as ensuring we are training and bringing new people into the construction [sector] at a steady rate.”
