The Welsh Housing Partnership initiative has now bought more than 400 properties in local authority areas across the whole of Wales, with more than £46 million of investment.
Principality Commercial has also announced a further £10 million of funding for the next phase of the scheme which will further help the partners’ ambition of scaling up to over £100 million of investment by 2015.
‘Hundreds of families in Wales, that were struggling to step on to the housing ladder, have been able to rent homes safe in the knowledge that their rents will be affordable whilst also having the confidence their homes will be well maintained,’ said Peter Hughes, managing director of Principality Commercial.
‘The initiative has also been consistent with the ambition to do more for less when the public purse is under so much pressure. Welsh government has played a pivotal role in this but the other participants have all stepped up to secure the results achieved to date. We look forward to the next phase of the partnership when hundreds more affordable homes will be available for local families by 2015,’ he added.
The four year innovative venture sees Coastal Group, Hendre Group, Seren Group and Cymdeithas Tai Clwyd work together to buy affordable homes for people to rent under one banner, the Welsh Housing Partnership.
The partnership is now planning to purchase around a further 500 further homes by 2015, with the aim of helping almost 1,000 families find affordable housing in its four year project.
Carol Ratchford who lives in one of the Welsh housing Partnership homes in Flint with her partner Ian and children Molly and Sophie, who both have autism and epilepsy, said she was impressed by how quickly they were allocated a house.
‘They found us a house really quickly. We used to live on a busy main road and couldn’t take the children out to play, but we’ve moved to a quiet cul de sac with plenty of room, which is much better for our family. Now we’re in a home that we love,’ she explained.
‘We recognised the need to supply quality affordable homes for families in Wales who can’t afford to buy their own and by working in partnership, rather than in isolation, we are able to support many more families throughout the country,’ said Ian Williams, chair of the Welsh Housing Partnership.
‘Together we are able to share our extensive experience in the housing market to offer long term quality rental packages to tenants who are keen to rent one of these affordable homes in Wales and we hope that in the next few years we will be able to extend this offer to hundreds more families,’ he added.
The four housing associations that form the Welsh Housing Partnership are based at Cardiff, Newport, Swansea and Denbigh in north Wales. They have a combined turnover of £100 million and manage 18,000 homes.
Carl Sargeant, the Minister for Housing and Regeneration said that the scheme is an example of the good work being done to provide much needed homes for the people of Wales.
‘The current financial climate, coupled with a sustained need for affordable homes, means working in partnership to deliver innovative schemes like this one is vitally important. I’m delighted that the Welsh government has been able to support this scheme and look forward to further good news as the scheme enters its next phase,’ he added.
