As demand for shared ownership housing increases nationwide, affordable housing provider St Arthur Homes is aiming for significant expansion and has made several new senior staff appointments as it ramps up its business. Since lockdown many registered providers have reported an upturn in interest from potential shared ownership purchasers, with enquiry levels up to three times higher than last year. St Arthur Homes aims to grow its portfolio to 2,000 homes within the next five years, with sites in many locations currently in the pipeline.
HCA-approved provider, St Arthur Homes works across outer London, the South of England and the east of England by acquiring affordable housing through S106 and grant-led package land and build schemes. It specialises in delivering quality shared ownership housing such as its latest launch at Chapel Riverside, the Inland Homes scheme in Southampton. What sets the business apart is its proactive and forward-looking approach to site acquisition. Private funding through private equity finance means the team can move quickly in an agile and commercially focused manner. It currently has sites in Southampton, Portsmouth, Datchet and Sutton, with deals in Winchester and Welwyn Garden City also in progress.
Tasked with helping lead this expansion, St Arthur Homes has recently appointed to its senior leadership team John Walton as Partnerships and Acquisitions Director. He joins from Places for People, bringing almost 25 years of housing, development and regeneration experience. The team has also been strengthened by the recent appointment of Louise Mills as Senior Sales Manager and Costa Ghioules as Finance Manager. Together with Development Director Ian Berrett, who has a wealth of experience in the sector, the team will drive forwards the future development of St Arthur Homes.
Richard Cohen, Chief Executive Officer at St Arthur Homes, comments: “With increasing demand in the market for shared ownership homes, we are ideally positioned to take the opportunity to grow our business. We are a progressive and entrepreneurial company and we’ve recently appointed key individuals who will help us take things to the next level. I am excited that with the help of our strengthened team we can drive the further expansion of St Arthur Homes. We will consider any size affordable housing requirement and base each new opportunity on its own individual merits.”
John Walton, newly appointed Partnerships and Acquisitions Director at St Arthur Homes, comments: “I’m looking forward to assisting St Arthur in reaching its target to own and manage 2,000 homes within the next five years. To do this, we will drive effective partnerships working right across the housing and residential development sector that will include local authorities, housing associations, investment partners and developers. Affordability remains the key issue for buyers and we are committed to delivering much needed shared ownership homes that people can afford. I will be responsible for building new relationships across the sector, and I am particularly interested in assisting other registered providers to meet their own growth ambitions where they take the affordable or social rent homes and St. Arthur would take the shared ownership homes.”
St Arthur focuses on shared ownership housing with high levels of specification, where there is no distinction between it and an open market sale property. As a registered provider with the same legal status as a traditional Housing Association, St Arthur Homes has strong relationships with a wide range of local authority partners in London and across the South of England.
For further information visit https://www.starthurhomes.com/