Partnership formed to drive social and affordable housing
Five housing associations have announced a formal partnership with the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) in an effort to tackle the housing crisis.
The collaboration between Bromford, Citizen Housing, GreenSquareAccord, Midland Heart, whg and the WMCA, will work on ways to accelerate the delivery of the region’s affordable housing ambitions.
The Homes for the West Midlands Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) will identify new opportunities and sites, as well as support the WMCA’s wider housing policies including the use of modern methods of construction and modular homes.
It comes as the number of people on the region’s housing waiting list tops 64,000 with more than 6,500 households, including nearly 13,000 children, living in temporary accommodation.
Integer Advisory will manage the day-to-day business of the LLP.
Mayor Richard Parker said: “When I speak to residents, they tell me how hard it is to keep up with house prices, private rents, and mortgage rates, all of which have risen at unprecedented levels.
“One reason for this is that we aren’t building enough homes, particularly social housing. This has left too many people living in poor conditions.
“That’s why I’m committed to changing how we build homes in our region. I’ve set a target of 20,000 new social homes over the next decade to help tackle the housing crisis, while also training local people to get jobs building those homes.
“This is a shared goal, and I’m confident that by working together, we can make a real difference to the lives of thousands of people in our communities.”
Speaking on behalf of the LLP, Joe Reeves, executive director of finance at Midland Heart, said: “With affordable housing emerging as a key aspect of devolution in the West Midlands, this is the perfect time to demonstrate true collaboration between a partnership of housing associations with heritage in the region and the WMCA.
“This new Homes for the West Midlands partnership will complement the annual 3,500 homes built by these Housing Associations in the region by identifying land among strategic economic corridors to deliver homes that meet the policy objectives of the WMCA, particularly in respect of affordability, brownfield remediation, modern methods of construction and energy efficiency.”
Ruth Cooke, chief executive of GreenSquareAccord added: “We are delighted to be part of the Homes for the West Midlands Limited Liability Partnership. It’s fantastic to see the Mayor make the construction of thousands more social and affordable homes one of his four key priorities.
“By exploring the use of modern methods of construction (MMC) throughout the partnership we will be able to construct much needed homes in a quality-controlled factory environment, accelerating the overall speed of construction, resulting in quicker handovers and earlier occupancy.
“These homes will also capture more carbon than traditional construction methods and will be much more thermally efficient, resulting in lower fuel bills for customers.
“We look forward to working with the other housing associations and the WMCA to provide much needed energy-efficient homes to help tackle the housing crisis.”
