JV pledges £80m of housing

MANCHESTER-based Trafford Housing Trust and London housing association L&Q, have announced an £80m partnership to deliver 2,000 new homes across Greater Manchester and the North West over the next four years.

Trafford Housing Trust and L&Q say they will create a 50/50 joint venture bringing their balance sheet capacity and expertise together to enable both organisations to deliver more houses more quickly, than each could individually.

The agreement marks L&Q’s first partnership outside the South East and is in line with its stated commitment to work with local housing associations to deliver more homes and support for local communities.

L&Q recently announced plans to merge with East Thames and will continue to pursue opportunities to achieve its vision of delivering 100,000 new homes in the next ten years. 

Trafford Housing Trust says it brings its financial strength alongside its local knowledge and connection with the community.

In 2015 the trust launched a dedicated property arm, Laurus Homes, which has already delivered a number of new build residential schemes in and around Trafford for outright sale.

In addition, the trust is developing a number of affordable housing, mixed-use and assisted living new build projects across the borough. 
 
The joint venture agreement will enable a faster pace of housebuilding in the region, and allow larger, more complex projects to be delivered.

It will expand the trust’s footprint beyond Trafford to incorporate projects in other Greater Manchester boroughs such as Stockport and Salford, with a plan to develop further schemes across the North West including projects in Cheshire and Cumbria.

The case for more homes in Manchester and the wider North West is well established.  In Greater Manchester alone current supply of new homes is in the region of 4,000 annually, compared with a projected need of 11,000 plus per year for each of the next 10 years.

Initially the JV aims to develop around 500 new homes a year, and will require an investment from each partner in the region of £80m over the four-year period to deliver 2,000 homes.

Of the new homes, approximately 25% will be affordable new homes designed for first time buyers, with c.25% for affordable rent and c.50% new homes for market rent and sale.
 
Legal arrangements for the JV are expected to be completed this autumn, with the first housing schemes due to commence in early 2017.
 
David Montague, chief executive of L&Q, said:  “I am delighted that we have formed this new partnership with Trafford Housing Trust, another like-minded charitable housing association, to serve the people of Greater Manchester and the wider North West. 

“Together we will create so much more than either of us could accomplish by ourselves to deliver more new homes and support for local communities. This is just the start: any profits this partnership makes will be re-invested back into the local area for many years to come.”  

Matthew Gardiner, chief executive of Trafford Housing Trust, said: “We know that good quality affordable housing to rent and to own provides a sense of safety and financial security for the many people currently living in unsatisfactory conditions.

“In L&Q we have found a progressive and like-minded partner that shares our ambitions to build more homes and to help more people out of poverty.

“It is clear that the combination of Trafford Housing Trust’s knowledge of the local housing market with L&Q’s formidable capacity as a house builder, and our shared vision to create neighbourhoods people want to live in, will result in a unique and exciting offering at scale to the North West housing market.”