Aster sets its largest-ever home building target

Aster Group is set to build more homes in a single year than it ever has before, with the housing association targeting the delivery of more than 1,300 homes over the next 12 months.

The target follows the Group completing 939 homes in the year to the end of March 22, and almost 1,900 since the start of 2020, despite the impact of the pandemic on construction.

The 939 homes built in 2021/22 comprised 304 shared ownership properties, 464 for affordable and social rent and 171 for open market sale.

This included the completion of Aster’s 13th Community Land Trust (CLT) in Bishops Caundle, Dorset, with the six-home development taking the total number of CLT homes delivered to 147.

Aster also contracted 25 new development sites in 2021/22, including two new CLTs, adding 852 homes to its pipeline. The association is also on track to double the number of CLT homes in its portfolio by 2028.

Amanda Williams, Aster Group chief investment officer, said: “Building close to 1,000 homes during such a challenging time for the construction industry is a testament to the hard work of our development teams. Their dedication, coupled with an excellent pipeline of newly secured sites, puts us in a strong position to set an ambitious target for the year ahead.  

“There is still plenty of uncertainty for households facing a cost-of-living crisis. This makes the provision of affordable housing as important as it has ever been, so our focus is on delivering a record number of new homes to support those who need it.”