Housebuilder Wilmott Dixon is in talks with a number of housing associations over launching a joint venture to build private homes in the government's four housing growth areas.
The company, which builds around 1000 social homes a year, sees the venture as a first step towards returning to private housing construction.

It left the sector to concentrate on social housing in the 1970s, but now feels there is a gap in the market to build homes for people on low incomes. The new business would be called Widacre and would pitch homes at £90,000-£250,000.

Rick Wilmott, chair of the company, which has five six-year partnering deals with registered social landlords, said: "We recognised that RSLs frequently sell on the private element of a site they already own to be developed rather than undertake the job. Under our proposal Widacre would take all the development risk, but the RSL would realise a higher return from the land once it was developed."

He said the first deal, worth £25m-£35m, was under negotiation, and that he hoped to have up to 150 homes under way through Widacre by March, with 500 a year being built by 2009.

Source

Housing Today