Member Article

Housing Plus Group named in Top 50 Biggest Builders

Housing Plus Group has been named as one of the Top 50 Biggest Builders in the country in a new survey published by Inside Housing magazine. The £30m that the Group spent on building 291 new homes in 2019/20 brought a first appearance in the annual list of the largest developing housing associations, placing the organisation among the top three per cent of social landlords in the UK. This news comes shortly before the first anniversary of the merger between Housing Plus Group and Stafford and Rural Homes (SARH), when chief executive Sarah Boden announced a commitment to help relieve the area’s housing crisis by working to build an additional 2,000 new homes for rent, shared ownership and outright sale by 2023.

Last year Housing Plus Group, whose members now include Severnside Housing, South Staffordshire Housing Association, Severn Homes and SARH, completed 211 homes for below market rent and a further 80 properties for low cost ownership.

Developments have included a £2.6m scheme to revitalise a brownfield site and create 24 new homes in the heart of Wellington, Shropshire and a project to regenerate an area of Stafford with the construction of 40 new homes for affordable rent and shared ownership.

Housing Plus Group owns 18,912 homes throughout Shropshire and Staffordshire. Last year it invested £30m in new homes and received £940,000 of government grant funding for affordable housing.

Ambitious building projects are set to continue. In what was described as “One of the most significant land acquisitions in the area”, Housing Plus Group purchased 22.4 acres of land in Perton, where it plans to build up to 220 new homes for outright sale, shared ownership and rent.

“We are really pleased to have been included in the Top Fifty Biggest Builders survey for the first time”, said chief executive Sarah Boden. “Our Group sets out to make a positive difference for homes, lives and communities. Providing new homes in our towns and rural areas is one of the most important ways that we can do that. By building good quality, affordable housing we are making locally focussed investment which is boosting economic wellbeing.

“That is why we have committed to start building 2,000 new homes by 2023. I’m confident that we will achieve that target and proud that as a not-for-profit organisation, we are doing more than simply building houses, we are providing essential homes.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Chick .