A group of housing associations have called for an offsite-housebuilding programme modelled on the UK’s post-First World War construction efforts, to help key workers access affordable housing.
The G15 group of the largest housing associations, Legal & General’s modular homes business, modern methods of construction (MMC) champion Mark Farmer and other industry figures are calling for offsite methods to be used to deliver 100,000 affordable properties on housing association and public sector land.
The Homes for Heroes campaign is based on the 1918 social housing drive launched by the government in the aftermath of the Great War.
A campaign statement said that as well as building affordable housing for sale and rent, such an initiative would prompt major private investment in offsite factories because it would ensure certainty of future demand.#
Helen Evans, G15 chair and chief executive of Network Homes, said: “Essential workers on the front line of this [coronavirus] crisis are often among the lowest paid in society.
Homes for Heroes is about giving these people a safe, secure and genuinely affordable home to live in. With the collaboration of government and the housing sector, both private and social, we can bring forward a once-in-a-generation number of new homes for our essential workers.”
Cast Consultancy chief executive and MMC champion Mark Farmer said: “This initiative represents a unique opportunity to create a large scale and tenure-diverse housing delivery programme.”
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