Cosmopolitan Housing Association and property finance specialists GB Finance Group announced that they are to expand their provision of non grant-funded supported housing.
The partnership aims to provide around £43 million of privately funded accommodation over the next two years to assist local authorities and NHS Trusts in plugging the gaps in their publicly funded development programmes.
The investment is expected to generate around 100 additional properties, which will provide a wide range of accommodation and facilities for people with supported housing needs that would otherwise stay on a local authority waiting list.
Liverpool based Cosmopolitan currently has £6.6 million of privately funded supported housing in management and a growing pipeline of future schemes. These are providing specially designed housing for 78 people in 18 properties around Merseyside and an increasing range of other UK locations.
The client groups include people with learning difficulties and people who have experienced homelessness, alcohol or drug dependency or prison.
Dave Griffiths, Cosmopolitan's Development Director, explained:
"We initially started out on quite a small scale about six or seven years ago, using Cosmopolitan's own funds to help our local authority partners fill the gap in their publicly funded programmes.
"Our partnership with GB Finance and with a range of specialist support providers has enabled us to expand that offering in response to considerable demand from strategic commissioners."
Gary Gardner, Director of Liverpool-based GB Finance Group said:
"We have worked with Cosmopolitan for some time and have been very impressed with the management team.
"Initially, we had to take time to understand their sector and the challenges that the team faced in delivering their projects. Our business model has adapted over this past year to enable us to not only provide the funding for property based projects but now to inject capital via joint ventures."
Genesis Housing Group was reported to have denied that it is in merger talks with Notting Hill Housing. Several recent media reports have suggested the London-based housing association is in advanced negotiations with Notting Hill and that a deal is expected soon.
If such a merger was to happen, it would create the largest housing association in the UK, with around 58,000 properties on its books.
However, in a reported statement, Genesis dismissed the claims and insisted it was 'more than able' to continue its operations. The statement states:
"Genesis Housing Group is not in urgent or formal merger talks with any other housing association.
"Genesis, along with many other housing associations, has a partnership strategy that means we would be open to entering into discussions with other like-minded housing associations where joining forces would benefit our residents and those who might become our residents in the future. This has been our position for some time, and remains so.
"Genesis has a substantial asset base and a significant level of existing undrawn bank facilities. The Group is currently at an advanced stage of negotiations to raise further funding from banks and other financial institutions in line with its requirements.
"Recently, Genesis also arranged a back-up facility with London and Quadrant Housing Group for the sum of £20 million. The Group has not drawn on these facilities and does not expect to do so.
"Genesis is more than able to continue its operations as a strong and independent housing association."
Glasgow Housing Association (GHA), Scotland's biggest landlord and the largest UK employer of housing professionals, and the Chartered Institute of Housing Scotland (CIH) entered into a new Strategic Partnership.
The partnership, the first of its kind in Scotland, will help GHA take forward its organisational development and through this develop its services to the people of Glasgow.
As part of the Strategic Partnership 1,000 GHA employees will become members of CIH, giving them access to support in developing their skills and services. CIH will organise a series of seminars to help assist with policy development in GHA.
GHA is also offering its staff the opportunity to obtain a recognised qualification in housing to help them increase their skills and knowledge.
