One hundred years after the Addison Act, we must offer homes in a variety of tenures

In south-west Hertfordshire we receive an average of 44 bids for every home that becomes available for letting, while an average price for an outright sale is more than £400,000 – meaning that both social rent and homeownership are out of reach for many in our communities.

As the market continues to change and evolve, it’s now housing associations’ turn to make the most of the challenges and opportunities we face; providing homes to meet local demand while keeping sight of our social conscience and our fundamental purpose of providing quality, safe and affordable homes.

For Thrive, that means diversifying our business model and refocusing our homes and services where they are needed most. At a practical level, it means rising to tackle the housing crisis in all its forms – offering homes at different price points to people at different stages of their life, who may not be able buy their own home.

“This is an exciting new era, as we begin to position ourselves as a business which lies between a traditional housing association and a professional landlord underpinned by ethics”

For us, this change is seismic. We’re no longer ‘registered providers’ delivering solely affordable homes. We are modern landlords who provide quality homes and secure tenancies that enable our customers to build and sustain good lives.

For Thrive, this is an exciting new era, as we begin to position ourselves as a business which lies between a traditional housing association and a professional landlord underpinned by ethics.

We will, of course, continue to do what we have always done at our heart: provide affordable social housing. This alongside other housing products, including market rent, within our portfolio mix allows us to better meet the growing, diverse housing need in the communities we serve.

This shift will operate in parallel with our growth ambitions, which currently involve building around 150 homes – a mix of social affordable rent and shared ownership – each year. But we can’t deliver this alone.

Our development programme is leading us to forge new partnerships and joint ventures with external partners which share our values and vision – delivering together to meet our local demand.

Delivering the homes and services our communities need means we must continue to deliver on the promise of our social purpose by defying traditional pigeonholes, just as the Addison Act did for councils in 1919.

Elspeth Mackenzie, chief executive, Thrive Homes