Housing associations’ new home starts dive during pandemic
The annual number of new homes started by London’s largest housing associations plummeted to the lowest level on record during the pandemic.
The G15 housing associations reported 10,951 new homes started in 2020/21, down 30% on the previous year and less than any other year, going back to 2015.
The group includes Clarion, L&Q and Peabody. The drop follows disruption on site during the pandemic and rising costs, which have led many, including L&Q and Peabody, to downsize their short-term development ambitions.
The annual number of new homes started by London’s largest housing associations plummeted to the lowest level on record during the pandemic.
The G15 housing associations reported 10,951 new homes started in 2020/21, down 30% on the previous year and less than any other year, going back to 2015.
The group includes Clarion, L&Q and Peabody. The drop follows disruption on site during the pandemic and rising costs, which have led many, including L&Q and Peabody, to downsize their short-term development ambitions.
During the year some 85% of starts were for affordable homes, compared with 75% a year earlier. The most popular tenure was shared ownership (42.7%), followed by affordable rent (16.7%) and London affordable rent (13.9%).
Just 9.6% were social-rented. However, the G15 noted that this was the highest proportion since records began in 2015/16.
While the number of new starts fell significantly, the number of completed homes remained at the same level, with 11,056 homes handed over to residents. Of these, 72% were affordable, with the majority (36.5%) delivered as shared ownership, followed by affordable rent (20.9%).
Geeta Nanda, G15 chair and chief executive of Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing, said: “The last 18 months have been some of the hardest I can ever recall, especially with the initial site shutdowns that were required, and the challenges social distancing presented on construction sites. With that in mind, to have delivered the second-largest number of new homes in any year since 2015/16 is testimony to the hard work and commitment of our colleagues and partners.
“However, we are seeing some challenges from shortages of labour and materials, which are contributing to rising construction costs. We will continue to work with our contractors and suppliers to mitigate these risks as far as possible, but they do point to longer-term issues that will need addressing, such as ensuring we are training and bringing new people into the construction sector at a steady rate.”
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