Home Group signs to build thousands of new homes

Home Group has signed contracts worth £40.5million with the Homes and Communities Agency to build 2,104 properties across England as part of the HCA’s Affordable Homes Programme.

The funding will underpin Home Group’s wider development programme which will see up to 1,900 additional homes built across England and Scotland over the next four years.

The group plans to spend more than £450million on its new property development programme between now and 2016.

Mark Henderson, Home Group chief executive, said: “The major development programme Home Group is announcing today sets out the ambition of our organisation to make a substantial difference to the lives of people across England and Scotland.

“It is clear that there is a lack of affordable homes in the UK at present and our building programme will make a sizeable contribution to addressing this problem. I applaud the Homes and Communities Agency for its Affordable Homes Programme which is enabling providers such as Home Group to get to grips with the issue. Our additional development plans will enhance the role we play in this area.”

He added that more could be done to address the issue of the availability and quality of affordable housing stock if the Government offers more opportunities for housing association tenants to buy their properties.

He said: “The publication of the Housing Strategy earlier this month laid out sensible plans to enhance right-to-buy but the Government can significantly increase the impact of this initiative by increasing the opportunities for customers in our sector to buy their own homes.

“The ‘right to acquire’ opportunities for housing association tenants aren’t working – we have only had 24 sign-ups from our customers in the last three years – so more needs to be done to open this market. By doing this on a ‘one new home for each home sold’ basis in the same area, this would further stimulate house-building in the sector which would inject much needed momentum to the housing market and the wider UK economy.”

Up to 380 of the planned units to be built under the HCA contract will be properties for care and support.