Northern JV pledges to build 2,750 homes

A group of ten housing associations in the north of England is looking for consultants and contractors after pledging £335.5m to build over 2,750 homes.

The consortium, called JV North, is made up of landlords from Manchester, Liverpool, Nottingham and Preston.

Together they will contribute £248.2m of their own funds to build the homes over the next four years, and will be supported by a £87.3m grant from the Homes and Communities Agency, taking the total investment to £335.5m.

Of the 2,758 homes to be built over the next four years, 1,269 will be for shared ownership, 1,063 for rent to buy and 426 as specialist housing for rent.

JV North chairman, Nigel Wilson, who is also chief executive at Wythenshawe Community Housing Group, said: “We acknowledged a number of years ago that there was a looming housing problem in the areas we operate.

“Working as a consortium we have sought to do all we can to address this and the level of support from the HCA is very welcome, so too is the timing of this announcement as we renew our consultants and contractors framework later this month.”

Collectively, JV North members manage over 73,000 homes. The members are Aksa Homes, Eastlands Homes, Community Gateway Association, Gedling Homes, Liverpool Mutual Homes, New Charter Housing Group, Torus (Helena Partnerships and Golden Gates Housing Trust), Trafford Housing Trust, Weaver Vale Housing Trust and Wythenshawe Community Housing Group.