In 2019/20 we completed 1,372 new homes, 24% of which were built for affordable tenures including at social rent levels, and we’re pleased to say that for 2020/21, we’re on track to increase our proportion of social rented homes further.  These figures have contributed to us being ranked 8^th overall in Inside Housing’s list of housing associations providing the highest number of new homes. This wouldn’t have been possible without the strength of our partnerships with local authorities, developers and contractors, our strategic partnership with Homes England and strong business plan.

Despite the setbacks of 2020, we have many new sites underway to bring more homes to our local communities. Once such example is the Kingston Prison development in Portsmouth which will provide 183 affordable homes on land around the Kingston Prison building, helping to address the large shortage of housing in Portsmouth.

We’re also delighted to have recently announced that we’ll be working with BoKlok UK, the sustainable, quality low-cost home provider, jointly owned by Skanska and IKEA. We’re coming together to deliver new modular homes at pace and introduce a place-making concept that integrates communities and provides sustainable quality for both owner occupiers and affordable tenures. Our joint venture will deliver 300 new modular homes per year throughout Hampshire, Surrey, Berkshire and West Sussex. The five-year agreement will see a joint approach to land, planning and the delivery of new modular homes, which have achieved outstanding recognition in the Nordics. This is a first of its kind partnership with a housing association and with our drive towards net zero carbon, BoKlok is definitely the right partner for us.

Our financial strength gives certainty to our delivery as well as flexibility. That means we’re able to react to the individual needs of the areas we operate ensuring we’re building the right type and tenure of home in each location. Last year we made a commitment to provide all of our new build 3+ bedroom rented homes as social rent levels helping to provide opportunities for families to have a safe place to call their own. 

We’re experts in selling homes across a wide range of tenures, including shared ownership, shared equity, rent to buy and market sale. We use the profit from our market sale properties to enable us to build more social and affordable homes.

Whilst we’re pleased with the progress we’ve made, we want to do more. We want to continue to work with you, our partners, to bring forward more opportunities to grow the supply of affordable high-quality housing in the region.