Member Article

Council to lend £90 million to provide affordable housing

Warrington Borough Council is to lend £90 million to a housing association to fund the building of 1400 social and affordable homes over the next five years.

The £90 million will be lent to St Helens-based Helena Partnerships Ltd, one of the largest developers of affordable new homes in the North West.

Leader of Warrington Borough Council, Cllr Terry O’Neill, said today: “This is one of those genuine win-win opportunities. This loan will help drive regeneration. It will stimulate house building and create jobs. It will bring much-needed affordable properties within reach of hundreds of families.

“It will help close the gap by bringing regeneration to some of our most deprived areas. And as a related benefit it will bring in much-needed income, which will help us to protect essential council services.

“Warrington Borough Council has been one of the first local authorities to do this, but other councils are gradually starting to do the same. This is good news because there’s currently a shortage of long-term finance due to the banking crisis, and as a result the UK is building about 100,000 new homes a year fewer than we actually need.

“It’s also good news for the local and regional economy in general, because every £1 spent on house building leads to £4 being spent in the wider economy.”

Cllr O’Neill added that the scheme showed the benefits of local councils working in close partnership with other organisations.

Rob Young, chief executive of Helena Partnerships said: “We have been working with Warrington Borough Council for the past few years after we were appointed as their preferred development partner. This funding will help us to realise our ambitions to create over 1400 social and affordable homes in St Helens, Warrington and across the region over the next five years.

“The geographical links between St Helens and Warrington provide a real opportunity to positively influence the regional economy. It’s also great news for our customers and our partners, and helps us map out the next phase of the company’s growth with greater certainty. We’re confident that this news will enable us to continue delivering on our goal of providing a better choice of affordable, modern homes.”

Warrington Borough Council has been providing loans to housing providers since 2010, following the withdrawal of long-term finance by banks in the wake of the 2008 banking crisis.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Simon Malia .