In 2011, four housing associations joined forces to deliver affordable homes to the people of Wales with support from the Welsh Government and Principality Building Society’s Commercial arm.
Since then more than 400 properties have been purchased by the partnership, in local authority areas across the whole of Wales, with more than £46million of investment.
Principality Commercial has also announced a further £10million of funding for the next phase of the scheme which will further help the partners’ ambition of scaling up to over £100m of investment by 2015
Peter Hughes, Managing Director of Principality Commercial, said:
“We are proud to be supporting such a unique initiative with our long-term partners that are working tirelessly to deliver more wide ranging solutions to help the Welsh housing agenda.
“Through this partnership hundreds of families in Wales, that were struggling to step on to the housing ladder, have been able to rent homes safe in the knowledge that their rents will be affordable whilst also having the confidence their homes will be well maintained. The initiative has also been consistent with the ambition to “do more for less” when the public purse is under so much pressure. Welsh Government has played a pivotal role in this but the other participants have all stepped up to secure the results achieved to date.
We look forward to the next phase of the partnership when hundreds more affordable homes will be available for local families by 2015.”
The four year innovative venture sees Coastal Group, Hendre Group, Seren Group and Cymdeithas Tai Clwyd work together to buy affordable homes for people to rent under one banner, the Welsh Housing Partnership.
The partnership is now planning to purchase around a further 500 further homes by 2015, with the aim of helping almost 1,000 families find affordable housing in its four year project.
Carol Ratchford who lives in one of the Welsh housing Partnership homes in Flint with her partner Ian and children Molly and Sophie, who both have autism and epilepsy, said:
“They found us a house really quickly. We used to live on a busy main road and couldn’t take the children out to play, but we’ve moved to a quiet cul-de-sac with plenty of room, which is much better for our family. Now we’re in a home that we love.”
Ian Williams, chair of the Welsh Housing Partnership, said:
“We recognised the need to supply quality affordable homes for families in Wales who can’t afford to buy their own and by working in partnership, rather than in isolation, we are able to support many more families throughout the country.
“Together we are able to share our extensive experience in the housing market to offer long term quality rental packages to tenants who are keen to rent one of these affordable homes in Wales and we hope that in the next few years we will be able to extend this offer to hundreds more families.”
Adding credibility to what has been achieved here Welsh Government commissioned Altair Ltd to carry out an evaluation of the Welsh Housing Partnership.
Judy Wayne, Director at Altair, said:
“Altair's report showed that the WHP met its aims, providing affordable housing for people in need. The WHP approach was an innovative use of funding to secure extra good quality, affordable housing in most parts of Wales. The evaluation showed that the scheme is attractive and that it has a firm foundation for future years' investment.”
The four housing associations that form Welsh Housing Partnership are based at Cardiff, Newport, Swansea and Denbigh in north Wales. They have a combined turnover of £100million and manage 18,000 homes.
Carl Sargeant, the Minister for Housing and Regeneration said:
“This scheme is a further example of the good work being done to provide much needed homes for the people of Wales.
The current financial climate, coupled with a sustained need for affordable homes, means working in partnership to deliver innovative schemes like this one is vitally important. I’m delighted that the Welsh Government has been able to support this scheme and look forward to further good news as the scheme enters its next phase.”
