Bath-based housing association Curo is to invest £25m of government money in building 340 affordable homes in the West of England over the next five years.
It has formed a strategic partnership with Homes England to deliver the much-needed housing supported by the West of England Combined Authority, which includes Bath & North East Somerset Council.
A planning application is currently being prepared for the first 47 homes to be built under the partnership in Filwood, Bristol.
Curo builds hundreds of homes a year as well as looking after more than 25,000 residents in 13,000-plus homes across the West of England.
Its flagship Mulberry Park development of 700 homes, open spaces and community facilities is on the former Foxhill MoD site on the outskirts of Bath.
Curo and the West of England Combined Authority, which also includes Bristol City and South Gloucestershire councils, have been working together to secure the funding from Homes England, the government body backed by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG).
Curo CEO Victor da Cunha said: “We’re very pleased to be working with the West of England Combined Authority, Homes England and councils in our region to deliver these new homes.
“We work in an area which experiences acute housing affordability issues; building new housing will provide hundreds of local families with secure, long-term homes.
“We very much welcome the government’s provision of grant funding through the Strategic Partnership scheme; it recognises housing associations’ key role in addressing the country’s housing crisis and allows us to accelerate our investment and build programme.”
West of England Mayor Tim Bowles added: “This partnership is responding to our need for more affordable homes, by committing to major development in our region.
“We need more homes for our residents to buy and rent. We need homes in the right places and at prices people can afford. The West of England Combined Authority is proud to support this partnership, and I am confident that it will deliver successful places where people will aspire to be.”
Pictured: West of England Mayor Tim Bowles, left, with Curo CEO Victor da Cunha at Curo’s Mulberry Park development on the outskirts of Bath
