Regional names make L&G housing panel

Great Places, Jigsaw and Regenda are among 14 housing providers selected to partner with Legal & General as the business seeks to make inroads into a target of 3,500 affordable home completions a year.

The announcement follows a two-stage tender process, launched in March this year, which received 140 expressions of interest. The selected panel also includes Richmond Housing Partnership, Optivo, Flagship, Karbon, Chelmer Housing Partnership, Accord, Pinnacle, Stonewater, Saxon Weald, Coastline and Raven.

Across its growing portfolio, L&G is delivering a mix of social, affordable rental and shared ownership homes, within Section 106 agreements and grant-supported homes. L&G’s selected panel manages in excess of 300,000 affordable homes, the coverage meaning that L&G has the capacity to allocate two providers to each UK local authority.

L&G has become increasingly active in residential in recent years, launching the Legal & General Modular Homes division and taking full ownership in 2018 of housebuilder CALA Homes.

The group said that its new partnerships seek to offer security and a de-risked process to the panel, meaning members can focus exclusively on service delivery and resident experience. Its contractual obligations offer certainty of a minimum 10-year relationship, whilst also insulating providers from risks such as rent collection penalties. L&G hopes to build on this relationship by exploring further opportunities, such as collaborating with providers in the direct development of homes.

Matthew Harrison, chief executive at Great Places, said: “We will work across 27 different areas, helping to create successful communities and much needed, quality affordable rented and shared ownership homes. Both organisations have a shared vision to deliver excellent customer service, bespoke to individual needs and tenures, and we have a strong track record in successful partnerships.”

Ben Denton, managing director, Legal & General Affordable Homes, said: “After a rigorous tender process, focusing on the quality and customer service offering of 140 UK-wide housing associations, we have now established an experienced panel of management partners. With residents already moving into our first schemes, this represents another milestone as we continue to pioneer the Institutional Registered Provider model.

“There is an urgent need to keep innovating in this sector and to provide quality, stable homes for the 1.1m households on waiting lists in England.”