Alliance Homes and North Somerset Council have launched their joint affordable housing delivery partnership agreement to work together to find ways of speeding up the delivery of affordable homes for North Somerset.
The two organisations marked the launch of the partnership by announcing the completion of the purchase of the Millcross site in the centre of Clevedon, which will create 60 affordable homes.
The former Kwik Save site, which was vacant for more than a decade, was earmarked for a £13million hospital project when it was sold to the NHS.
The site was acquired in 2010 by NHS Property for a community hospital by North Somerset primary care trust, but the plan was scrapped three years later due to spiralling costs.
MORE: Millcross site to be sold for housing.
Cllr Don Davies, leader of the council, said: “This agreement means that we can use our shared history to work more closely and meet our common goals of building new homes that are fit for purpose, energy efficient and located where people actually want to live.”
The Millcross site was purchased from NHS Property Services by the council, who then worked with Alliance Homes on a back-to-back deal.
A spokesman at NHS Property Services said: “We are delighted to have been able to agree the sale of this site to the council and that it will deliver affordable housing for the community.
"The sale of this surplus site meets our joint aims of generating a receipt to be reinvested straight back into the NHS at a time when it is most needed and contributing towards the Government’s housing targets.”
Andy Willis, chairman of Alliance Homes' board, said: "The new agreement sets out both North Somerset Council and Alliance’s commitments to strengthening their relationships and sharing opportunities in order to create new homes for social rent, affordable rent and shared ownership.
“The Millcross site purchase is a great example of what can be achieved by using a partnership approach.
"Working closely means that we can get best value and develop 100 per cent affordable housing on a vacant site.
“Alliance Homes has ambitious plans to deliver 2,000 homes in the next 10 years, so I look forward to working together on many more exciting schemes that meet the needs of the local community.”
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