First development announced for innovative housing partnership

Evera Homes – a ground-breaking joint venture to deliver new homes in the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough combined authority area – has announced its first development scheme.

Evera is a new partnership comprised of Longhurst Group, Flagship Group, Hyde Group and Cross Keys Homes, bringing together the members’ skills, expertise and local knowledge.

The joint venture aims to tackle the acute housing shortage by delivering homes at a greater pace. The plan is to deliver the start on site of an additional 2,000 new homes by 2023.

Work on site at Evera’s first development, a 60-home project near Upwood in Huntingdonshire, will start in December 2018.

The development consists of two, three, four, and five bed properties delivering a mix of outright sale, shared ownership and affordable rent. A total of 24 homes will be affordable – making up 40% of the total scheme and underlining Evera’s commitment to maximising the delivery of this tenure type.

The news of Evera’s first development was announced at the official launch event in Cambridge (Monday 5 November), which was attended by a host of influential figures from the housing sector.

Chair of Evera Homes Claire Higgins said: “I’m really delighted that we have now had approval for our first development. We have been keen to work quickly because we share ambition. We have been well-received by local authorities, landowners and agents and have several other potential opportunities we will be able to announce soon.”

Julie Doyle, Chief Executive of Longhurst Group, said: “We want to build futures together and believe that by working in partnership we can deliver thousand more homes by sharing our expertise and resources.

“The level of interest at our launch event was extremely encouraging. It’s our hope that the positive conversations which were held will lead to further possibilities for growth across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough to support the ongoing economic success in the area.”

Chair of Longhurst Group’s board, Bob Wilson, added: “Evera is an exciting new partnership of four housing associations aiming to do more collectively than we can on our own.

“We are in the vanguard – we’re breaking new ground in doing this but we know we can be successful. We’re pooling our resources to provide a united effort to help solve the housing crisis.”

Carol Cairns, Head of Home Ownership and Supply for the South East at Homes England, was one of the key speakers at the event.

She said: “Working in partnership to share risk and reward on sites, to ensure delivery is in the right places, of the right quality and appropriately addresses local needs, I think is fantastic.

“We’re already working together with some of the organisations forming Evera Homes, so we have those partnerships in place. I think finding new ways to drive the delivery of homes is really important, so I’m pleased to see Housing Associations working together to find new ways to deliver more homes.”

Find out more about the new housing partnership at: www.everahomes.co.uk