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Strategic partners can add extra housing associations to deals
Housing associations which have secured spots on Homes England’s strategic partnership programme will be allowed to add associations to their partnerships.
Homes England confirmed to Inside Housing that the 15 strategic partners could bring other not-for-profit housing associations into the partnerships and allow them to access grant from the initial funding allocation.
It said partnerships could also secure increases to their initial allocations to build extra homes, subject to resources being available and partners delivering their existing commitments.
However, strategic partners will be prevented from accessing grant through Homes England’s ongoing continuous market engagement grant scheme.
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Earlier this month, chancellor Philip Hammond announced £653m of grant would be used to support seven partnerships with housing providers to start 13,475 new affordable homes by 2022.
It was the second allocation after eight partners were handed £590m in July to deliver 14,280 additional affordable homes by 2022.
Bidding for the next round of strategic partnerships opened in September, with Homes England currently in discussions with potential partners.
Inside Housing understands that the next cohort of partners could be named before Christmas.
Some existing strategic partnerships have confirmed that they are currently looking to add other housing associations to their strategic partnerships.
Alan Yates from Matrix Partnership, a partnership between five West Midlands housing associations, said it was in discussions with other organisations over joining forces.
Matrix Partnership, which secured £77m in July, has vowed to increase its affordable housing starts by 250% before March 2022.
Mr Yates said: “There is the opportunity for others to join our partnership. Obviously Homes England have to agree, but we are open to others approaching us to join the partnership.
“The primary objective is to meet the targets set by Homes England but if we could increase that programme, I’m sure it would be welcomed by them.”
A guide to strategic partnerships and the deals announced so far
Under strategic partnerships, housing associations agree to increase their development programmes by a specified number of homes in return for extra funding for the government.
Unlike some other government funding programmes, they can use the new funding flexibly across their development programme, determining the tenure of affordable homes closer to completion following negotiations with Homes England.
The following housing associations were confirmed as strategic partners on 30 January 2019:
| Housing association | Grant | No of additional starts to March 2022 |
|---|---|---|
| Bromford | £66.4m | 1,400 |
| Curo and Swan | £51.1m | 1,067 |
| Liverpool Mutual Homes and Torus | £66.4m | 1,757 |
| Longhurst and Nottingham Community Housing Association | £71.7m | 1,685 |
| Together Housing Group | £53m | 1,152 |
| WHG | £38.7m | 1,000 |
| Yorkshire Housing | £61.8m | 1,300 |
| Your Housing Group | £87.5m | 2,315 |
Homes England announced the following partnerships in October 2018:
| Housing association | Grant | No of additional starts to 31 March 2022 |
|---|---|---|
| Guinness/Stonewater | £224m | 4,500 |
| Optivo | £44.9m | 1,000 |
| Orbit | £128.8m | 2,762 |
| Platform Housing Group | £71.8m | 1,800 |
| Southern Housing Group | £55.1m | 1,005 |
| Thirteen | £40m | 1,000 |
| Vivid | £88.2m | 1,408 |
Table published by Homes England on 31 October 2018
Homes England also earlier this year confirmed the following partnerships:
| Housing association | Grant | No of additional affordable starts to 31 March 2022 |
|---|---|---|
| EMH Group | £30.5m | 748 |
| Great Places | £29.2m | 750 |
| Home Group | £85m | 2,300 |
| Hyde | £95.4m | 1,623 |
| L&Q | £85m | 1,724 |
| Matrix Partnership | £77m | 2,257 |
| Places for People | £74m | 2,603 |
| Sovereign/Liverty | £111.5m | 2,275 |
Table published by Homes England on 3 July 2018
