Bath-based Curo and Swan Housing Association have secured a Strategic Partnership with Homes England and a grant allocation of £51.1 million to build 1,067 new affordable homes by March 2024.
Curo’s development of 700 homes at Mulberry Park in Bath
The new homes are in addition to their existing development plans, with the programme comprising a mix of properties available for social rent, affordable rent and shared ownership.
The allocation was announced as part of Homes England’s second wave of Strategic Partnerships and is one of only 21 announced to date.
Curo, based in Bath, and Swan, based in Essex, operate in regions where high property values mean that homes for private rent and market sale are often unaffordable.
By working in partnership, the two housing associations will share resources and expertise to maximise the number of new homes that can be delivered in areas with high affordability pressures.
Victor da Cunha, Curo’s Chief Executive, said: “Securing Strategic Partner status with Homes England is great news; we exist to provide affordable housing for local people and this additional funding will enable us to deliver hundreds of new homes over and above what’s already in our business plan.
“Specifically, it accelerates our total building programme to 2,520 homes over the next five years. This will increase our housing stock by more than 20% and means that we’ll continue to play a full and active role in addressing the regional housing crisis across the West of England.
“We’re proud to have been selected as one of only a small number of partners to work with Homes England. We’ve been asking government for some time to provide additional funding to speed up housing delivery, and they have listened.”
John Synnuck, Swan’s Chief Executive added: “As a Housing Association working in Essex and East London, becoming a Strategic Partner of Homes England ensures that we can continue to build much needed affordable homes in Essex.
“This year we celebrate our 25th Anniversary as an organisation and we continue to be as dedicated as ever to providing affordable homes for those who need them.
“We currently own and manage over 11,000 homes and this funding will enable us to deliver 505 much needed additional affordable homes over and above what’s already in our business plan representing a 5% increase in our housing stock – helping us towards our ambitious target of building an additional 10,000 homes by 2027. ”
