Last edited 05 May 2016

New Communities Partnership

The New Communities Partnership was launched on 3 May 2016 to deliver £1 billion of new housing.

It is a housing delivery fund created by Kier Living, The Cheyne Social Property Impact Fund and The Housing Growth Partnership - a joint venture between the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) and Lloyds Banking Group. Together, they offer an end-to-end development solution that includes procurement, funding, site assembly, construction, sales, management and maintenance.

The New Communities Partnership is a public-private alliance intended to help the public sector build 10,000 new homes across the UK. It will “…provide local authorities and housing associations with an innovative delivery model for building new homes on their own land, giving them the option to choose between sale and/or rental developments, and offers significant scope for affordable development.”

Public sector organisations will be able to determine the appropriate mix of tenure for their site. Rental homes will include discounted and market-rent solutions for key workers, people with disabilities and the elderly. Homes for sale will include discounted sale units to help first time buyers. This will give public sector organisations the potential to generate income from their land, whilst developing it in a socially-responsible way.

The New Communities Partnership believe this will increase the number of affordable homes built, with up to 50% of each site offering affordable development opportunities.

John Anderson, Executive Director of Kier Living said, “Through this unique public private sector partnership with experienced finance and development partners Kier, Cheyne and the Housing Growth Partnership, we are collectively offering an end-to-end solution to building much-needed new homes.”

Shamez Alibhai, Head of Cheyne’s Social Property Impact Fund, said, “We believe that bringing responsible private capital into the UK housing sector is necessary for tackling the increasing shortfall of genuinely affordable homes across the country.”

Andy Hulme, CEO of The Housing Growth Partnership said, “Working alongside Kier Living and Cheyne Capital through the ‘New Communities Partnership’ should stimulate further growth in residential development projects and enhance access to affordable housing.”