Housing Association

Aico is the European Market Leader in Home Life Safety, committed to innovative technology solutions with a suite of HomeLINK IoT (Internet of Things) devices protecting people and property. Following Stirling Council’s IoT working trial with Aico, a wider rollout which includes environmental sensors to collect information around tenants’ homes will be implemented. Collected data will include temperature, humidity and carbon dioxide (CO2) gas levels, along with smoke detection sensors and will dramatically improve the health, safety and wellbeing of residents. Tenants will be able to take actionable measures from insights via a mobile app.

Housing Association magazine presents a round-up of new appointments, promotions and vacancies in HAs, LAs and the housebuilding arena. 

The Hyde Group, in partnership with Westerhill Homes, part of Chartway Group, has purchased the land next to the Old Thanet Way in Whitstable from Devine Homes plc. The housing association and construction company have come together with the intention of building around 400 new homes and making improvements to the Duncan Downs nature reserve.

The site will be one of the first in Canterbury to benefit from new affordable housing supported by grant funding from Homes England, thanks to its strategic partnership with Hyde. It means that more socially rented homes will be built on the site, as well as those for outright sale, shared ownership and affordable rent, creating a new, genuinely mixed, community.

Law firm Shakespeare Martineau has been appointed to the panel of legal advisors at Orbit Group, a leading group of national housing associations.

One of ten firms appointed to the panel, Shakespeare Martineau will be working with Orbit Group for the next three years, providing full legal advice services including, development, sales, commercial, and governance. 

Founded in 1967, Orbit is one of the leading providers of affordable housing to buy and rent, managing a portfolio of 42,000 properties and serving over 100,000 people across the Midlands, the East and South East. 

Wates Residential has extended its partnership with the housing association Orbit after being appointed to help deliver a £9.4 million project for new homes in the London Borough of Bexley. The national developer is working with Orbit to build the West Street redevelopment in Erith, south east London. 

The proposed scheme will see vacant buildings including a former car parts warehouse replaced with a contemporary low-rise design including seven homes for London Affordable Rent, 14 homes for London Living Rent and 21 homes for Shared Ownership sale. The plans also include a car park with electric charging points and large community garden. 

In a move which is being signalled as opening the gateway to the North, a London-based housing association is poised to acquire a Manchester profit-for-purpose organisation.

Housing associations L&Q and Trafford Housing Trust (THT) announced today that they are in talks which will see THT become a wholly-owned subsidiary of L&Q. It is anticipated that the acquisition will complete in June 2019, subject to due diligence, customer consultation and the development of a five-year business plan. 

The acquisition of THT by L&Q will build on a highly successful joint venture partnership that has already seen 679 housing starts with a further 1,493 in the pipeline since it was launched in April 2017. This new agreement will unlock a further £4 billion of investment in the North West by combining the capabilities and resources of the two housing associations to create 20,000 new homes and strong communities over the next 10 years. At least half of these homes will be affordable. 

A thriving residential and community development, including at least 40% affordable housing, is to be built in Warwick after council bosses signed off on plans submitted by L&Q.

The scheme on land south of Gallows Hill will be known as Beauchamp Park. It will see 450 quality homes brought to the 20.9-hectare site south of Gallows Hill and west of Europa Way (A452). L&Q, one of the UK’s leading housing associations, has a proven track record of creating thoughtful and considerate neighbourhoods. The local community and future residents will also benefit from new public open space, footpaths and cycleways, and children’s play areas.