Aster Group enjoys record year of housebuilding

Ethical housing developer Aster Group delivered 825 new homes in 2016, its best ever housebuilding performance.

The figure was more than double the developer’s average annual build rate for the past ten years, of 390 homes. Strengthening its delivery pipeline is part of Aster’s long-term plan, which includes investing £500m in housebuilding over the next five years.

Aster’s ambitious development strategy involves acquiring new land to gain greater control over the delivery of its homes, as well as continuing its partnerships with developers such as Galliford Try to provide properties on a large scale.

In 2016 Aster delivered a number of large developments across the South West, including 94 homes at Finn Square in Weymouth, 65 at Ridgeway Farm in Wiltshire and 52 homes at Old Rydon Lane in Exeter. It also expanded its territory with new land-led schemes in the pipeline across the south of England.

Amanda Williams, group development director at Aster Group, said: “2016 was a very strong year for us in terms of providing new homes and we are geared up to increase our delivery of new properties this year and beyond.

“It is our mission to provide homes for the thousands of people currently priced out of the areas they want to live in. We can only do this by making more homes available, with a greater provision of shared ownership to help buyers take their first steps on to the property ladder.

“Our ambitious and diverse development strategy involves leveraging our assets and profit to build more homes, using our position as a commercially-focussed ethical developer to help alleviate Britain’s housing crisis.”

As part of Aster’s £500m development plan, it is building more shared ownership homes alongside properties available for affordable rent and open market sale.

In the year to the end of March 2016, it reported pre-tax profit of £34.1m, up 20% year-on-year, on revenue of £179m.