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Greater Manchester in talks to create ‘devolved strategic partnership’ with Homes England
The Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) is hoping to establish a ‘devolved strategic partnership’ with Homes England, which would give the group local control of funding.
As laid out in its housing strategy implementation plan, the GMCA said a strategic-partnership approach would “fairly allocate housing investment and give Greater Manchester local control of funding to accelerate the delivery of new homes to meet our housing needs”.
According to the plan, the new strategic relationship with Homes England would see them set a shared objective of 50,000 additional affordable homes.
It is not yet clear what the nature of the proposed strategic partnership will be.
In London, mayor Sadiq Khan has currently secured more then £4.8bn to build at least 116,000 affordable homes from March 2022. However, this funding does not come from Homes England and means London is usually excluded from Homes England’s grant programmes.
Homes England runs a strategic partnership programme with a number of large housing associations. Under this model, select landlords are given a lump sum of grant in order to fund their pipeline, rather than receiving funding on a scheme-by-scheme basis.
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Last year, Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham announced plans to build 50,000 affordable homes over the next 20 years, of which 30,000 would be for social and affordable rent.
The GMCA’s housing strategy implementation plan also said the group will lobby government “for the freedom to develop a strategic approach to developer obligations and viability issues that fits within the Greater Manchester market”.
Last week, the Northern Housing Consortium called on the government to create a “truly national” grant programme that does not place “arbitrary restrictions” on the North.
Currently the government’s key housing funds concentrate 80% of all investment in areas of “high affordability pressure”, many of which are in London and the South.
A spokesperson for the GMCA said: “We are in discussions with Homes England to further strengthen our working relationship, building on the commitments in their strategic plan to closer cooperation with combined and local authorities.
“We share ambitions to accelerate delivery of truly affordable and market housing, unlock public land and prioritise brownfield sites.
“When we launched our most recent public consultation on building the homes we need in our city region, we committed to a target of 50,000 affordable homes, at least 30,000 of which would be for social rent.
“We are keen to make the best collective use of our combined resources, and those of our partners, in delivering on those ambitions. We want to ensure that our city region sees both the investment and the development that it needs.”
A spokesperson for Homes England said: “As part of our mission to change the housing market, we are committed to working with partners and places who share our ambition to intervene in the housing market and build more homes where they are needed.
“This includes working with combined authorities to explore partnership opportunities and new ways of working.”
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 association | Grant | No of additional starts to March 2022 |
|---|---|---|
| Bromford | £66.4m | 1,400 |
| Curo and Swan | £51.1m | 1,067 |
| Liverpool Mutual Homes and Torus | £66.4m | 1,757 |
| Longhurst and Nottingham Community Housing Association | £71.7m | 1,685 |
| Together Housing Group | £53m | 1,152 |
| WHG | £38.7m | 1,000 |
| Yorkshire Housing | £61.8m | 1,300 |
| Your Housing Group | £87.5m | 2,315 |
Homes England announced the following partnerships in October 2018:
| Housing association | Grant | No of additional starts to 31 March 2022 |
|---|---|---|
| Guinness/Stonewater | £224m | 4,500 |
| Optivo | £44.9m | 1,000 |
| Orbit | £128.8m | 2,762 |
| Platform Housing Group | £71.8m | 1,800 |
| Southern Housing Group | £55.1m | 1,005 |
| Thirteen | £40m | 1,000 |
| Vivid | £88.2m | 1,408 |
Table published by Homes England on 31 October 2018
Homes England also earlier this year confirmed the following partnerships:
| Housing association | Grant | No of additional affordable starts to 31 March 2022 |
|---|---|---|
| EMH Group | £30.5m | 748 |
| Great Places | £29.2m | 750 |
| Home Group | £85m | 2,300 |
| Hyde | £95.4m | 1,623 |
| L&Q | £85m | 1,724 |
| Matrix Partnership | £77m | 2,257 |
| Places for People | £74m | 2,603 |
| Sovereign/Liverty | £111.5m | 2,275 |
Table published by Homes England on 3 July 2018
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