Bulk-buying consortium Procurement for Housing now represents a quarter of all English housing associations, according to its organisers.

Membership has outstripped all growth targets since the initiative was launched in March by the National Housing Federation and Chartered Institute of Housing. The scheme now has 70 members, including 18 of the UK’s largest registered social landlords.

Members own and manage more than 600,000 homes.

Procurement for Housing director Julie Craig said: “In our first four months we have exceeded our 12-month target in terms of market share, which gives us unrivalled purchasing power in the sector.”

She claimed the bulk-buying scheme could save social housing organisations up to £40m per year if half the UK’s 2000 housing associations join up.

Procurement for Housing deals with four suppliers, providing office equipment, energy, telecoms and printing services. The NHF hopes to extend this to insurance, repairs and leased vehicles.

Source

Housing Today