Housebuilding partnership secures £20m through new homes programme
HOUSE BUILDING in the West Midlands has been given a welcome boost after a housing partnership secured £20m worth of Government investment to build almost 1,000 new homes.
The Matrix Housing Partnership, which is led by the Accord Group, has been allocated the funding as part of the Homes and Communities Agency’s (HCA) 2015-2018 Affordable Homes Programme.
Over the next three years, the partnership will develop 973 new homes, helping to deliver much needed affordable housing in the region and stimulate growth and jobs.
Over half of the new homes will be manufactured at the Accord Group’s timber homes factory in Walsall.
Key housing projects that will be partly funded by the grant include 79 homes on the site of the former Beechdale Primary School in Walsall, 69 homes in Heath Town in Wolverhampton and 174 homes across Birmingham.
New homes are also planned for Wolverhampton, Redditch and Darlaston and other parts of the region, including Wychavon, Gloucester, Stroud and East Staffordshire.
Alan Yates, Executive Director of Regeneration at the Accord Group, said: “We are delighted to have secured funding for the eighth largest allocation of homes in the country from the HCA which has streamlined the bid process.
“This funding is critical to increase much needed and affordable housing supply and to stimulate growth across the UK, enabling us to continue our current development programme for another three years.
“Without the significant investment provided through the Government’s Affordable Homes Programme, there would undoubtedly be a huge reduction in the level of affordable housing being built over the next three years.”
Charlotte Hill, Head of Programmes and Performance for the HCA Midlands, said Matrix had been a strong deliverer in the current Affordable Homes Programme and a strong bid had been expected.
“Their commitment to wider economic growth within local communities is also a strong part of their delivery, so we know through Accord and Matrix that we will get high quality much-needed affordable homes across the Midlands as well as jobs, apprenticeships and support for local businesses,” she said.
Across the HCA’s Midlands operating area, the Affordable Homes Programme is investing over £226m to deliver 11,500 homes over the next three years.
According to the National Housing Federation, every new home built brings £75,682 into the West Midlands and creates 1.8 jobs directly and in the wider regional economy.
The Matrix Housing Partnership is made up of the Accord Group, Rooftop, Trent and Dove, Trident Social Investment Group as well as WATMOS Community Homes and Black Country Housing Group.
Together the partnership manages more than 29,000 homes and provides a range of services to people across the West Midlands.
