Devon sees increase in affordable housing provision thanks to Aster Group
With 201 new homes successfully delivered in Devon during 21/22, local housing association Aster Group is set to build more homes in a single year than it ever has before. Its ambitious target of delivering more than 1,300 homes over the next 12 months sees the Group predicted to be one of the biggest housing association builders of affordable homes in 2022-23. Aster’s development pipeline ranked seventh in the annual Top 50 Biggest Builders Survey 2022, three places up from last year.
The Group successfully delivered 939 new homes throughout the south of England in the year to the end of March 22, which included 201 in Devon. With average house prices in the county commanding £302,976 and average monthly rents of £923, the 29 homes for shared ownership, along with 65 homes for social rent and 19 for affordable rent provided some much needed affordable accommodation for the region. Profits from the 88 houses built in Devon for open market sale will go towards the funding of more affordable homes from Aster.
The 939 homes, which were delivered across southern England in Berkshire, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Oxfordshire, Somerset, Surrey, West Sussex and Wiltshire, comprised 304 shared ownership properties, 464 for affordable and social rent and 171 for open market sale.
Aster has also confirmed plans to invest £570m by 2030 in enhancing its homes and IT to improve the services it provides to customers and make its homes more sustainable. The Group, which is currently conducting a comprehensive stock condition survey of all its homes, spent £69m on repairs and maintenance across its portfolio in 2021/22.
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 in Devon 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.”
“There’s huge demand for affordable housing in Devon so it’s great to have been able to provide 201 much needed new homes for local people across the region.”
The Inside Housing Top 50 Biggest Survey gives an overview of how the housing association sector performed during 2021/22.
For more information please go to aster.co.uk and to find out more about the shared ownership homes available in Devon please click here: https://www.aster.co.uk/sales/developments/devon
