Aster to deliver 300 homes a year through Homes England partnership

Housing association Aster Group is set to build 1,550 new homes before the end of March 2028 through its strategic partnership with Homes England.

The £114m programme will deliver an average of 310 homes a year from April 2023 – 51% for shared ownership and 49% for affordable and social rent.

Aster has secured a strong development pipeline and is expecting to contract on over 1000 of these homes over the forthcoming months, to be delivered through a mix of land and developer-led schemes.

As well as ensuring homes are sustainably designed, the housing association will work with a range of contractors, including those of SME size, bringing an added boost to local economies. At least 25% of the homes are to be built using modern methods of construction (MMC).

The strategic partnership will also include the development of just over 200 Community Land Trust (CLT) homes, forming 13% of the partnership’s overall delivery target. In Dorset and Devon alone, the Group has partnered with six CLTs which will account for 107 of these homes.   

Aster was selected as a Homes England Strategic Partner in September 2021 as part of the Affordable Homes Programme (AHP) 2021-26.

Amanda Williams, chief investment officer at Aster Group, said: “Tackling the housing crisis will require both collaboration and innovation. Our strategic partnership with Homes England is one of the many ways we're building relationships with key stakeholders in the housing sector to bolster our delivery pipeline. It will assist the delivery of our extensive land-led programme, our joint ventures and a host of projects delivered with housebuilders.

"It’s really important to us that CLTs play a central role in our work with Homes England. They're an excellent way of putting local residents at the heart of a development, and ensuring the homes built meet their needs. We've delivered 13 CLT schemes so far, and our Homes England partnership will enable us to nearly double this by 2028.”

Aster recently posted a 7% year-on-year increase in annual turnover and pledged to invest £570m in enhancements and sustainability upgrade to its homes over the next seven years. This followed an announcement earlier in the year confirming the housing association is on track to deliver a record total of 1,300 homes in the 12 months to April 2023.