Housing group celebrates £81.7m investment into new homes
Manchester-based Great Places Housing Group is celebrating the building of 625 new homes across the north of England in the last year – with a total investment of £81.7m.
The development programme saw the construction of new homes in 14 local authority areas including Manchester, Salford, Oldham, Wigan, Trafford, Bolton, Lancaster, Blackpool and Sheffield.
The work was partly financed with grants worth £11.9m by the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), the government’s housing and land agency that funds new affordable housing in England.
The new homes delivered by the Manchester-based housing association in the last financial year, cater for a broad spectrum of housing needs including apartments as well as a range of two, three and four bedroomed family houses. They were made available for a mix of rent, Shared Ownership and market sale.
Helen Spencer, director of development at Great Places Housing Group, said: “The region desperately needs new homes and we are thrilled to have exceeded our development targets in the last financial year.
“We aim to provide quality affordable homes that cater for what people need and at the same time help create successful, vibrant communities.
“We are already busy working with our partners to build the next round of homes which are much-needed in the region.”
The group and its partners have also secured £36.6m of government funding through the HCA just before Christmas to build 1,279 affordable homes across the north west and South Yorkshire as part as part of a four-year development programme.
The bid was submitted by the Bloc Partnership, which is led by Great Places and includes six other northern housing associations. Great Places will be developing 872 of the new homes which will be a combination of Shared Ownership, rent to buy and specialist housing.
Great Places is also part of a campaign launched by housing associations in partnership with their trade body, the National Housing Federation, to urge the first-ever Greater Manchester Mayor to prioritise housing and deliver affordable homes for people in the region.
Greater Manchester’s new mayor will assume new powers relating to housing, planning and infrastructure. He or she will also have the chance to champion housing policy and seek further devolution of funding and flexibilities from central Government.
