A NEW housing partnership could see 7,000 much needed housing association properties built in Gloucestershire over the next decade however that is a fraction of what is desperately needed.

Midlands-based Bromford and South Gloucestershire based Merlin hope to jointly deliver the largest housing association-led new homes programme throughout Gloucestershire and the Midlands.

The partnership will see the organisations invest £1.5b in 14,000 new homes over the next ten years, with half in Gloucestershire.

In a joint statement, CEOs Philippa Jones from Bromford and Robert Nettleton from Merlin said:  “This partnership brings together two forward thinking housing associations with a shared vision of enabling customers to use great affordable homes as a springboard to achieve more of what they hope for themselves, their families and their communities.” 

“Both our organisations have ambitious development programmes, working together these can be combined and expanded to deliver 14,000 new homes in the next decade.”

However affordable housing providers across the county have identified the need for another 50,000 homes in Gloucestershire by 2030 to help address current local shortage and future predictions.

Additionally, according to a report published by the National Housing Federation earlier this year there is a waiting list of around 16,000 people for the existing 30,000 homes in the county, meaning that the new properties will be a drop in the ocean compared to the demand for affordable housing.

With wages below national average, high levels of rural unemployment, a shortage of affordable properties, and increasing food and energy prices, many people struggle to buy their own home in Gloucestershire.