Shropshire social housing landlord to build more new homes

Housing association Bromford recently announced that it would be stepping up its new construction programme from 3,380 to 5,311 over the next five years, an increase of almost 60 per cent.

Of the proposed new homes 74 per cent will be for rent and shared ownership while 13 per cent will be for specialist schemes for the elderly or adults with learning disabilities and the remaining 13 per cent for private sale.

The social landlord said the move to increase its initial target by 57 per cent is in reaction to the national housing shortage. And it has revised its business strategy to build them all by 2022.

Bromford said it will take on additional borrowing of £460 million over the next five years to cover the cost of the developments which will be at sites across the region.

The association's executive finance director Lee Gibson said: "We're very keen to increase the supply of homes across Shropshire and the whole of central England and following a strategic review, our new homes business plan has been agreed by the board which will deliver 5,311 new homes in the next five years. This is a rise of almost 2,000 on top of what was originally planned which in the current climate is quite a hefty escalation to our house building programme.

"Our plans show a real commitment to ensure that we're not only increasing the supply of homes but we're increasing the supply of the right homes, and in the places that our customers need them most. Ultimately we want tenants to live in homes they can be proud of, in desirable locations, creating sustainable communities not just for Bromford customers but wider society too."

Bromford which has 2,500 properties in Telford & Wrekin, Shropshire, Staffordshire and the Black Country achieved a £57m surplus in 2015 to 2016.

It added that the acceleration plan will involve developing sites by negotiating section 106 arrangements with private developers with a view to increasing its focus on land-led delivery where it buys up land and then develops its own homes using a Bromford internal construction department.

Earlier this year another provider Wrekin Housing Trust said that it was poised to provide a further 1,332 homes by 2023 across Shropshire and Staffordshire in a £186 million investment. It created 512 homes last year and said several redevelopment schemes were planned for future provision across Telford & Wrekin.

Figures show a shortfall of nearly 45,000 new homes over the last five years in the West Midlands – and across Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin the figure is just under 1,700. Some 1,320 families need a new house every year which means some 30,000 new households needing accommodation by 2039.

And the National Housing Federation said the number built over the last two years was far below what was required to accommodate the 19,000 new households, or families, that emerge each year.

It added that it seeing much effort was being made by housing associations to fill the gap.