Four of the largest Northern registered social landlords plan to build 500 homes a year in an ambitious joint venture.
Yorkshire Housing Group, South Yorkshire Housing Association, Three Rivers Housing Association and Tees Valley Housing Group are forming an organisation called Northern Challenge to make the procurement of homes cheaper.

The move is linked to the Housing Corporation's new approach to investment that will see it target money at a select group of RSLs with large development programmes.

Northern Challenge will have a combined development programme of up to £100m a year. Last year, the four received £20m in approved development programme funding and built more than 500 homes. This year they are bidding for £55m.

They have engaged global project management consultancy Faithful & Gould to find a developer for a long-term partnership.

Alison Thain, chief executive of Tees Valley Housing Association, said the deal was separate from another agreement with Three Rivers to set up a joint venture to bid for grant. She added: "I think the biggest savings are to be made in joint procurement. This is a real opportunity to drive down prices."

However, the associations have not yet identified exactly how much money they will save.

Source

Housing Today