HOUSING associations from across the West Midlands have formed a new partnership to engage and support the new devolved authority to deliver thousands of new homes.
The West Midlands Housing Association Partnership will provide a single voice to help the West Midlands Combined Authority deliver its social and economic aims, through housing and related activities, such as employment and health.
Taking part in the new organisation is Accord, which includes the award winning Redditch Co-operative Homes.
The partnership represents housing associations with a total of 120,000 homes in the core authority area, with 6,630 homes built by associations in the region and beyond last year.
Together these organisations add £600m to the regional economy each year and employ 18,500 people.
Partnership Chair, Kevin Rodgers, chief executive of WM Housing Group, said: “Together we have more than a £60 billion of capacity, and we want to deploy as much of that as possible in the region to deliver the high quality homes the West Midlands needs, and to create vital jobs and growth. We also want to support wider agendas around health, skills, employment and fuel poverty.
“In a relatively short space of time, we have come together to respond to this hugely exciting opportunity for the West Midlands region. We now want to crack on and make housing happen at a scale and pace that we have not seen since the post-war housing heyday.”
Councillor Bob Sleigh, Chair of the West Midlands Combined Authority, said : “It is great to see housing associations come together in partnership in a way that will truly support the work of the newly created West Midlands Combined Authority.”
Councillor Bill Hartnett, the leader of Redditch borough council added: “We certainly need more social housing in the whole combined authority area including Redditch and I’m glad that the Accord Group has joined.”
