Housing associations need to go bigger and broader to meet needs

摘要

L&Q, Hyde Group and East Thames are the latest housing associations to open talks on a merger. Further amalgamation is expected in the coming months and years. Income and expenditure at traditional housing associations have been squeezed, with reductions to social housing rent, the extension of Right to Buy and lower levels of grant funding expected to deliver fewer affordable housing starts this year. A study by the Town and Country Planning Association suggests England needs to build 312,000 homes every year for the next five years to meet the needs of a growing population and to compensate for the shortfall of new homes built in recent years. This translates to 1.5m homes over the next five years.