Urban Housing Solutions Introduction

The housing crisis in Britain today is largely one of an under supply of affordable housing. The greatest need is centred where the majority live and within the affluent urban centres, where supply is most acutely directed according to an ability to pay.

We have been involved with the provision of turnkey solutions to provide affordable housing for over 17 years.  We buy sites in the open market and in competition with house-builders and we take developers risk.  We obtain planning consent, procure the building work and hand over the completed units to our RSL or private company partners.

There are usually 40 to 120 flats in each development.  Schemes are typically split between 50% and 70% shared ownership with the remainder being rented units.  It is the shared ownership units that have traditionally provided the cross subsidy to support the rented element which our partners find difficult to self-support even with grant.

The Housing Corporation is seeking to reduce average grant, and, where possible, remove grant on shared ownership altogether.  We are already adapting our business model to compensate and are continuing to be competitive by injecting other forms of subsidy, for example, by using the shared ownership element for private market rent, intermediate rent or introducing some units for sale.

As we become less dependant upon Housing Corporation grants, it is likely that the specification and the unit sizes will reduce which is, in fact, not necessarily a negative outcome as they will become more in line with market provisions.  The market will correct our mistakes!  There will also be building cost savings, which we will be able to pass on to our clients.