Working collaboratively has become an increasingly preferred method in order to deliver projects at pace. This approach was proactively adopted by partnership housing specialist Lovell Partnerships, and Regional Managing Director Lee Sale identifies this approach as the reason the North West has smashed its 2020 target.
There is no doubt that last year was tough for all businesses but the housebuilding sector rose to the challenge, very much supported by the Government’s ‘Build, Build, Build’ investment.
Last week marked my second anniversary at Lovell and our collaborative approach with housing associations and local authorities — supported by some ambitious targets for growth and affordable housing delivery — is the reason the region is on track to smash its five-year goals.
We have actively prioritised joint ventures and frameworks to meet the Government’s ambitious targets and we’ve found a real enthusiasm from our partners to drive the need for affordable housing through collaborative working. During the pandemic, we remained focused on our long-term, trusted partnerships with clients to deliver much needed housing across the North West.
As a result, we started or delivered many more important developments last year while successfully bidding on nearly 1,500 units of land and securing seven new projects, totalling more than 700 units. We also delivered 338 new homes, only 14 homes short of our original forecast despite Covid-19.
This was boosted by the four bold commitments I made when I joined the North West team two years ago this week: to see the region achieve more than £100m turnover, become a 5* builder, deliver double digits profit and enable three new strategic partnerships or joint ventures. I’m therefore incredibly proud to say that we are on track to achieve, all four.
These results are down to the fantastic people at Lovell — everyone really rallied together. This ambition and winning attitude has enabled us to succeed throughout the pandemic and deliver top quality housing.
We are currently working on many key partnership projects including Weston Woods, a strategic joint venture with Latimer — Clarion Housing Group’s development arm — to deliver a 99-home scheme near Nantwich as well as a development in Pendleton, Salford with Lovell Together — a joint venture with Together Housing Group — that is set to be one of the largest strategic residential regeneration projects in Greater Manchester. Work has also recently started at The Strand, a development in Rochdale, which is in partnership with RBH.
We have also just secured a place on the Your Housing and Torus frameworks to help address the housing shortage across the region.
These are still challenging times so as we move further into 2021, we’re looking towards a significant year of sustainable growth in the North West following two years of solid performance. As a company we will also be developing our roadmap to carbon neutrality as we secure our business pipeline for 2023 onwards and building on our social value and CSR programme.
The housebuilding sector has some really high targets to meet and working collaboratively enables us to work at pace and deliver the much-needed homes that are required across the North West. By building homes but also investing in the local communities, these joint ventures can make a real, tangible difference.
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