Abbeyfield UK, which was formed in September from the merger of 35 Abbeyfield societies, will build 750 units in the next five years. The money has been raised from the Housing Corporation, charitable trusts and bank borrowing.
The plans include a £4.2m development to provide up to 40 flats in Settle, north Yorkshire. The project will be built on the site of an existing Abbeyfield property and surrounding land. It will be undertaken in partnership with registered social landlord Craven Housing, the local councils North Yorkshire and Craven councils and two local primary care trusts.
Before they began to merge, Abbeyfield societies were small, local groups run by volunteers to provide care homes and sheltered housing.
Brian House, chief executive of Abbeyfield UK, said: "Before, this type of development would have been outside the capacity of small societies."
The organisation is also planning a £6m scheme in Surrey, a £600,000 development in Chipping Norton, a £1.4m development in Clare in Suffolk and a £4m scheme in Nottingham, providing a total of about 40 units. Grants for some of these schemes were negotiated by the local Abbeyfield societies and will transfer to the new group.
There are 390 Abbeyfield societies in England, including the members of the merged group. A further 45 societies are expected to join Abbeyfield UK by next June.
Thirteen of Northern Ireland's 15 Abbeyfield societies have joined the Northern Irish equivalent group and Scotland also plans to start an umbrella body for its 70 societies.
Abbeyfield UK will take over some administrative, development and finance functions from its members, which will give them the skills and resources to expand.
The merger was designed to reduce the burden of bureaucracy on the societies' ageing volunteers. Member societies will no longer have to be individually registered with the Housing Corporation.
Source
Housing Today
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