Deals round-up: July 2024

Legal & General Affordable Homes and Orbit Group

 

For-profit registered provider Legal & General Affordable Homes (LGAH) has acquired 390 shared ownership homes from Orbit Group for nearly £35m.

 

Legal & General said the acquisition formed part of its “ambitions to increase its investment into the affordable housing sector” and has been funded by its institutional retirement division.

 

The properties are spread across 32 local authorities, covering the Home Counties, the East and West Midlands and Norfolk. LGAH owns almost 5,000 homes, with 2,000 in development and the aim to have delivered 10,000 by 2027.

 

Gloucester City Homes

 

Gloucester City Homes (GCH) has submitted a planning application for the regeneration of Podsmead in Gloucester that will deliver 173 affordable new homes and improve the energy efficiency of the housing association’s homes in the region.

 

The plans also include a pharmacy, a renewed local centre providing new shops and a community space, a new multi-use sports and play area, a BMX pump track and more trees and shrubs. GCH will launch a consultation, and a decision is expected by the end of 2024. If plans are approved, work could start in March next year.

 

Coastline Housing

 

Coastline Housing has completed 140 homes at Quintrell Downs, its largest affordable housing development in Cornwall to date.

 

The homes are a mix of affordable rent, shared ownership, rent-to-buy and open market properties. The development also includes 28 flats for people aged over 55 and has easy-access lifts and communal facilities.

 

Cambridge Investment Partnership

 

Cambridge City Council and The Hill Group’s Cambridge Investment Partnership has been granted planning permission to revitalise two sites in the centre of East Barnwell in the Abbey ward of the city. They will provide 120 council homes and new community facilities.

 

The development will replace 18 ageing flats with 48 social rent and 72 intermediate rent homes, with four of the new properties designed for people with disabilities. The homes will comprise a mixture of one, two and three-bedroom apartments and three-bedroom maisonettes.

 

A new community centre, library, preschool facilities, public open spaces, shops and parking will also be developed.

Great Places Housing Group

 

Great Places Housing Group has submitted plans for what it claims is a “first-of-a-kind” purpose-built majority LGBTQ+ extra care housing scheme in Whalley Range that will deliver 80 one and two-bedroom apartments for older people.

 

Residents will be aged 55 years or over, with the majority being members of the LGBTQ+ community from Manchester. The development will be funded by Great Places, complemented by grant funding from Homes England and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority Brownfield Housing Fund.

 

The housing association has submitted proposals for the site of the former Spire Hospital on Russell Road, which was demolished in 2019. The plans have been developed with input from the Russell Road Community Steering Group, Manchester City Council and the LGBT Foundation.

 

Southway Housing Trust

 

Southway Housing Trust has started work on a £20m scheme that will provide 76 affordable homes and a medical centre in West Didsbury, south Manchester.

 

The scheme comprises 30 homes for social rent and 46 for shared ownership. Homes at Two Didsbury Point are being built on the site of the former Withington Community Hospital.

 

Flagship Group

 

A proposal by Flagship to build 47 affordable homes using modern methods of construction in the north Norfolk village of Bacton has been approved.

 

Of these, 28 will be for affordable rent and 19 for shared ownership. The homes will be built on a 2.8 hectare site, to be accessed off Coast Road. Flagship will also donate a 0.65 hectare plot of land south of the village hall in Coast Road to the parish council for use as a public open space and extra car parking.

 

Construction is set to start later this year, with the first homes due to be completed in autumn 2025.

 

Grand Union Housing Group

 

Grand Union Housing Group, which has over 13,000 homes, has purchased 27 supported-living properties from fellow housing association Settle for an undisclosed amount.

 

The schemes in Luton and Hitchin were commissioned by the local authorities in these areas to provide supported accommodation for those with learning disabilities or who struggle with their mental health.

 

Hastoe Housing Association

 

Hastoe Housing Association has stepped in to purchase six rural affordable homes via a Section 106 agreement from Stevens Homes, the house builder, to ensure they remain affordable rather than be sold on the open market.

 

This came after the original housing association that was going to buy the homes under a Section 106 agreement was unable to proceed due to market conditions.

 

Hastoe will offer the homes – four for social rent and two for shared ownership – to the community in the village of Sheepwash in Devon. The homes are part of a larger development intended for market sale.