Southern Housing in £17.4m affordable housing deal

One of the UK's largest and oldest housing associations has bought 55 affordable apartments worth nearly £17.4m. Durkan completed the sale of 55 residential units at the Britannia Music Site (BMS) in Ilford, east London, to Southern Housing Group.

Under the terms of the agreement, the apartments will be completed and transferred to Southern in September of this year.   The units are earmarked for shared ownership or for use under the London Living Rent Tenure developed by the Greater London Authority (GLA).  Following the transaction, Southern will own a total of 148 units at BMS having acquired 93 units in 2017.

The Britannia Music Site scheme has a total Gross Development Value (GDV) of £105 million and is a pivotal development within Ilford’s wider regeneration. It will see the historic brownfield site transformed, delivering a total of 354 much-needed homes for the area, as well as 10,000 square foot of commercial space.

In addition to the 55 units sold to Southern, an additional 206 units are being forward funded by M&G Real Estate and will be available for rent from spring 2020.  In total, just over 40% of the site will provide affordable rent or shared ownership.

Danny Durkan, Executive Chairman, Durkan, said: “Britannia Music Site is a fantastic new development for Ilford.  All partners at the development have worked hard to deliver a scheme which is right for the area, we are thrilled the development is now sold out 12 months ahead of practical completion."

Ian Carey, Development Director at Southern Housing Group, “We are delighted to be working with Durkan on this exciting scheme. Southern Housing Group has an ambitious development programme and we are looking forward to making more affordable homes available for people in housing need in Ilford.”

The development is scheduled for completion in March 2020.

For more information on Southern Housing's range of affordable housing, see shgroup.org.uk