The top housing associations submitted detailed planning applications to build more than 16,000 new homes last year.
Peabody Trust has the biggest plans after submitting plans to build 2,623 homes last year. These plans include major developments such as The Green in Southall, which comprises 564 apartments.
Plans were submitted last summer and granted in November and Glenigan’s data shows that work should start later this year (Project ID: 19373272).
Peabody Trust is planning to merge in April with another housing association, Catalyst, which also features among Glenigan’s research ranking the top 20 housing associations by planning pipeline.
Schemes that Catalyst took to planning last year include the next phase of the Wornington Green development in west London, which comprises 377 apartments (Project ID: 19230043).
Together, Catalyst and Peabody submitted detailed plans to build 3,200 homes last year according to Glenigan’s research.
Clarion has the next largest planning pipeline among the top 20 housing associations and submitted proposals to build more than 1,600 homes in 2021. Major developments put forward for planning permission by Clarion last year include the £200 million City Reach scheme in Leeds, which will produce more than 1,400 homes (Project ID: 18048515).
The group is gearing up for a major construction programme and has just started procurement for a partnering agreement covering London and the South East. This will start next year and is expected to see spending of £600 million over the next two decades (Project ID: 22046248).
The number of units that housing associations proposed in planning applications of 10 or more units fell last year according to Glenigan’s construction industry intelligence. Overall, RSLs submitted plans for 27,152 units but this was a drop of 19% on the previous year.
The number of houses in the planning pipeline dropped by 24% last year. There was a fall of just 8% in planned apartments. However, Glenigan still expects the underlying value of construction projects starting on site to rise this year as land is sourced through acquisition or joint ventures.
Glenigan economics director Allan Wilén said: “Housing associations are now better placed to finance and take forward new developments than in recent years. Government requirements limiting association’s rent increases to 1% below the rate of inflation have been lifted, providing associations with greater flexibility to increase their borrowing to fund new developments.”
Housing associations are teaming up with private sector clients to develop social housing according to Glenigan’s research.
Peabody is working with housebuilder Bellway and the London Borough of Lewisham on the 251-home Kent Wharf development in south London (Project ID: 18075334).
Other examples include a £15 million development of 71 flats in Bromley by The Guinness Partnership and developer Prospect House (Project ID: 20480920) and a £25 million scheme for 85 flats on New Kent Road in Southwark, London, by Southern Housing and developer Gralaw (Project ID: 17398849)
As a result, while planning programmes may have sagged, Glenigan is confident of the short-term prospects for construction industry from the social housing sector. The value of underlying (less than £100 million) social housing project starts are forecast to rise by 6% this year and another 4% in 2023.
