Together Housing Group: flexibility to adapt to a changing market
Together Housing Group鈥檚 strategic partnership with Homes England has given the housing association the investment and flexibility to adapt to the changing housing market as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Homes England has granted 拢53 million to Together Housing to help deliver 1,152 additional new homes by March 2022.
To help achieve this, Together Housing has appointed three delivery partners: WDH, Accent and Community Gateway.
By working in partnership, the four housing associations are able to share resources and expertise to maximise the number of new homes that can be delivered in areas where demand exceeds supply.
Kevin Ruth, Deputy Chief Executive, said: 鈥淏y granting funding for an entire development programme rather than on a scheme-by-scheme basis, the long-term agreement with Homes England gives us the ability we need to vary our housing offer to reflect changing market conditions.
鈥淭he innovative approach enables us to deliver on our ambition to build better homes faster by using our funding flexibly across our development programmes and be able to respond quickly to local housing demand and a changing market, which is crucial with a potential recession looming as a result of the pandemic.鈥� 鈥淢eaningful engagement with Homes England also means we can help influence future policy, for example by sharing our experience on carbon reduction and modern methods of construction.鈥�
Kevin says the partnership has also cemented Together Housing鈥檚 relationships with private developers. Since the strategic partnership was established, Together Housing has entered into long-term agreements with the likes of Lovell Partnerships and Vistry.
He said: 鈥淗aving the financial backing of Homes England means private developers have confidence in us, secure in the knowledge that we have the funding and capacity to deliver programmes.鈥�