Mayor announces new partnership to help drive more social and affordable housing

Richard Parker, Mayor of the West Midlands, has announced a formal partnership with the region’s leading housing associations which will see them work together to help tackle the housing crisis.

The collaboration between the associations and the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) will identify new opportunities and sites for the construction of homes that are genuinely affordable for local people.

whg, along with Bromford, Citizen Housing, GreenSquareAccord, and Midland Heart, will work closely with the WMCA to accelerate the delivery of affordable housing. The Homes for the West Midlands Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) will not only focus on building more homes but also support the WMCA’s broader housing policies, including the use of modern construction methods like modular homes.

The Mayor has made housing a top priority, aiming to construct 20,000 new social homes over the next decade. This initiative comes as the region faces a severe housing shortage, with over 64,000 people on the waiting list and more than 6,500 households, including nearly 13,000 children, living in temporary accommodation.

He said: “When I speak to residents, they tell me how hard it is to keep up with house prices, private rents, and mortgage rates, all of which have risen at unprecedented levels. One reason for this is that we aren’t building enough homes, particularly social housing. This has left too many people living in poor conditions.

“That’s why I’m committed to changing how we build homes in our region.

“This is a shared goal, and I’m confident that by working together, we can make a real difference to the lives of thousands of people in our communities.”

Joe Reeves, executive director of finance at Midland Heart, highlighted the importance of this collaboration: “With affordable housing emerging as a key aspect of devolution in the West Midlands, this is the perfect time to demonstrate true collaboration between a partnership of housing associations with heritage in the region and the WMCA.”

Ruth Cooke, chief executive of GreenSquareAccord, added: “By exploring the use of modern methods of construction (MMC) throughout the partnership, we will be able to construct much-needed homes in a quality-controlled factory environment, accelerating the overall speed of construction, resulting in quicker handovers and earlier occupancy.”

The partnership’s first development, on a derelict industrial site in the Black Country, will be announced in the coming weeks.