West Midlands mayor and five housing associations form partnership body

As well as increasing the number of homes being built, WMCA said the agreement would enable “greater local input” into the design and development of projects, with a key priority of the LLP being the construction of homes that meet the “specific housing needs of local people”.

The agreement will also assist in the development and delivery of the future Affordable Homes Programme, which will be devolved from Homes England to the region in 2026. At that point, WMCA will be responsible for setting the programme’s strategy, objectives and framework across the region.

The combined authority added that the new partnership will build on its existing work with the West Midlands Housing Association Partnership, a consortium of 17 regional landlords.

Mr Parker has made housing, and in particular building thousands more social and affordable homes, one of his four key priorities as West Midlands mayor. He has promised to build 2,000 social rent homes a year in the region by 2028, which he said would add up to 20,000 in total by the end of the decade. 

Currently, the number of people on the region’s housing waiting list is 64,000, with more than 6,500 households, including 13,000 children, living in temporary accommodation.

Announcing the partnership at a modular housing factory in Walsall, Mr 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, said: “By exploring the use of modern methods of construction 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.”

Peter Hughes, chair of WMCA’s investment board, said: “We are all aware of the shortage of high-quality, affordable housing across the region and I am confident this agreement will go some way to increasing and improving our housing stock.”