Whittaker’s strategy for affordable housing delivery put to Whitehall

Peel Waters’ managing director has pitched his ‘Whisk’ model to senior special advisors in No.10, seeking to find a long-term solution to meet rising demand for affordable housing at minimal cost to the public.

James Whittaker told Place North West he had been in discussions with Whitehall over his strategy for countrywide, large-scale affordable home delivery.

Whittaker believes that his method would save the public purse and create a revenue stream.

Coined the ‘Whisk’ model, the strategy seeks to use the “covenant strength” of government and public sector entities to supercharge the countrywide drive to build affordable housing, alongside the help from the private sector and Homes England.

Whittaker’s model brings together an investment-grade developer, an investment-grade contractor, a large funder (such as a pension insurer), and a public sector body (such as Homes England or a local authority) to bring forward an affordable discounted rent development.

The model gets its name from the idea of mixing a number of funding and procurement structures together to create a quick solution for making affordable housing viable.

• The investment-grade developer is responsible for the scheme’s delivery.
• Following completion, the local authority would lease the properties from the developer and rent the individual properties to occupiers.
• On expiry of the lease, the developer would transfer ownership of the homes to the public sector, adding significant value.
• This method ensures the public sector has a long-term revenue stream from the get-go.

Wirral Council has signed a 50-year lease on the scheme’s affordable homes. Credit: Peel Waters

James Whittaker said Millers Quay, a Peel Waters development in Wirral, effectively works as a pilot.

At Wirral Waters’ Millers Quay, Wirral Council has signed a 50-year lease on the 100 affordable homes, followed by ownership after the lease ends.

To deliver the complete 500-home project, Peel worked alongside funder Pension Insurance Corporation and Wirral Council, with support from Homes England.

Millers Quay was then built by contractor Graham and rounded off at the start of April 2025, with 100 affordable homes delivered for 80% of the market rate.

For the government and local authorities, Whittaker said: “They get affordable housing, a revenue stream, and after the expiry of the lease, they’ll own all the homes – it’s a model we’ve got to follow.”

For the private sector, this means landowners can extract land value at a market rate, and the risk-taking developers would get a sensible profit that is “set in stone”, according to Whittaker.

When asked how successful this method could be, Whittaker said: “It’s a model that could work well for large parts of the UK on the condition that all the right partners are in place, including the land with planning permission.

“We can demonstrate that a similar method has worked for Wirral, where financial viability is an issue, and there are pilot schemes ready to go to show this structure can work for all the partners involved.

Whittaker did note that the model is not a “silver bullet”. To hit the government’s housing target, the economic climate would need to get rosier, with gilt yields coming down for the industry to “get going again”.

He was, however, optimistic, adding: “With this government’s ambition of building 1.5m homes over their term, I believe the ‘Whisk’ model can unlock a significant proportion of the affordable homes the country is in desperate need of.

“Just within our own portfolio alone, this could deliver over 5,000 affordable homes.

“If the government gets behind the model, then developers, landowners, and funders across the country can all start working together to deliver these affordable homes at scale simultaneously.”