Housing Association builds 400 homes in a year
HOUSING Association Great Places Housing Group is celebrating after its development team built almost 400 affordable new homes across the north in the last 12 months.
The total of 386 new homes built for the year to the end of March 2016, takes the number built by the Manchester-headquartered group, to 1,727 across 26 local authorities in the North West and Yorkshire.
It is estimated that approximately 240,000 new homes need to be built each year in order to meet the UK’s rising housing demands. In the last year, housing associations constructed 40% of all new homes built in the UK – something Great Places says serves as proof that housing associations are important contributors to tackling the shortage of affordable new homes.
The majority of homes that Great Places Housing Group has built have been part of the ‘Affordable Homes Programme’, which is partly funded and supported by the government’s Homes and Communities Agency.
Matthew Harrison, chief executive officer at Great Places Housing Group, said: “We’re thrilled to have exceeded our development targets and, in doing so, made a significant contribution in the last 12 months to help reduce the housing crisis in the north of England.
“Our vision is to create great homes and great areas to live – we want to provide quality, affordable homes that cater for people of varying needs and help create successful, vibrant communities.”
Great Places Housing Group has a turnover of around £85m, with six regional offices across the North West, plus one in Sheffield, and more than 17,000 homes in its portfolio.
