Cambridge pair are first to form a consortium in the wake of £3.3bn funding announcement
Housing associations across England are holding talks on forming joint ventures after the Housing Corporation unveiled its £3.3bn investment strategy last week.

The corporation announced on 28 October that it would give longer-term contracts to a select list of associations that have a £10m annual development programme and "green lights" in the corporation's "traffic light" assessment (HT 31 October, page 7).

Now associations are banding together to hit the £10m threshold. On Monday, two of them signed the first consortium arrangement since the announcement. Cambridge Housing Society will transfer its five-strong development team to its larger neighbour, Flagship Housing Group.

Homes built in the Cambridgeshire sub-region by the partnership will be owned and managed by Cambridge Housing Society.

Jointly, the two associations currently build about 600 units a year, increasing to 750 under the partnership. They received almost £20.4m in grant from the corporation in 2003/4.

The move enables Flagship to expand its development into Cambridge and gives Cambridge Housing Society, which previously relied on local authority grants, better access to corporation funds. The society received only £190,000 from the corporation in 2003/4, but last year received £4m from councils.

Adrian Davey, development and property services director at Cambridge Housing Society, said the arrangement would initially last for five years.

Martin Aust, development director at Flagship, said: "There are a few factors in this. One is the Communities Plan and big growth in the Cambridgeshire area. It's a combination of that with partnering and offering the corporation what they want."

Four South-western associations – Devon and Cornwall, Kerrier, North Devon and Ocean – are also looking at the consortium option.

Guinness and Moat, based in Buckinghamshire and Kent respectively, are considering calls from several small RSLs. It is rumoured that a number of big players in the South-east are holding discussions over forming a supergroup.

In the North-east, Tees Valley Housing Group may join with Nomad Housing, Three Rivers Housing Group and one other landlord.

South Yorkshire Housing Association is also considering a link with two regional RSLs.

Source

Housing Today