12 April 2008
The Housing Corporation continues to support Respond and confirmed the partnership as development partners for the 2008-11 National Affordable Housing Programme (NAHP). The first round of allocations for the NAHP have been announced and Respond is delighted to have secured £10.8m of grant funding to deliver a further 119 affordable homes.
David Robinson confirmed his delight with the new funding “we are delighted to have secured this additional funding which provides an great opportunity to build much needed affordable homes and continue our close working relationship with the Housing Corporation, our local authority partners and other stakeholders. ”
The members of Respond have ambitious growth plans and are seeking significant further funding for additional affordable homes. David Robinson said “whilst we welcome the new funding, we want a lot more. We are already in discussions with the Housing Corporation and are poised to submit bids for a number of additional schemes in London and the South East.”
Respond members work closely with a range of housebuilders and landowners and have developed a particular expertise in securing planning consents on sites where others have failed. Respond members recently secured planning permission for a scheme of 350 new homes on a site in Surrey. Our innovative approach secured a planning consent on a site that had been mired in the planning system for over 20 years. We would welcome the opportunity to discuss our approach to joint ventures and risk sharing with landowners and developers.
Respond is keen to continue to grow and would welcome new housing association partners. David Robinson said “We are a very inclusive partnership and would welcome additional members. We would like to share the numerous benefits of Respond membership with like minded housing associations who share our commitment to delivering much needed affordable housing.”
Respond continues to drive forward with a progressive agenda for innovation, efficiency and quality. The latest phase of this process includes the implementation of EU compliant procurement frameworks for contractors and consultants and the launch of a new website and intranet.
Notes for Editors:
Respond was created in 2003 and was recognised by the Housing Corporation as a development partner for the 2004-2006 development programme. Since then Respond has attracted Housing Corporation grant funding to the tune of £70m to deliver over 1500 new affordable homes.
The membership of Respond comprises Paragon Community Housing Group (Elmbridge Housing Trust and Richmond upon Thames Churches Housing Trust), Maidstone Housing Trust, Mount Green Housing Association and supported housing specialist Surrey Community Development Trust. Respond members are active in South and West London, Surrey, Berkshire , Sussex and Kent.
Respond, is a partnership of housing associations who use their collective resources and expertise to deliver much needed affordable housing in London and the South East. David Robinson, Programme Director for Respond explains the purpose of Respond “The delivery of affordable housing is about quality, efficiency, innovation and value for money. Moving forward under the Respond banner allows the member housing associations to work collectively to meet these challenges head on.”
For more information about Respond please contact David Robinson at drobinson@paragonchg.co.uk
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