Great Places joins new South Yorkshire partnership

Great Places has joined 10 other housing associations in launching a new partnership aiming to raise the profile and combined contribution of housing associations across South Yorkshire.

The housing associations working across the region have to come together as the South Yorkshire Housing Partnership (SYHP) to deliver five key priorities.

These are:

• The supply of affordable homes
• The roadmap to net zero carbon
• Housing and health
• Economic growth and employment
• Preventing homelessness
• These aims are outlined in the South Yorkshire Housing Prospectus launched late last year.

The partnership is also working with the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) and the four local authorities to support the delivery of their housing priorities.

The members of the partnership are:

• Acis Group
• Arches Housing
• Great Places Housing Group
• Johnnie Johnson Housing
• Ongo
• Places for People
• Rynkeld Homes
• Sanctuary
• South Yorkshire Housing Association
• The Guinness Partnership
• Together Housing
• Yorkshire Housing

Housing associations currently provide 30,781 homes across South Yorkshire, support around 1,900 jobs, and make a combined contribution of £87.9m to the regional economy each year.

Over the last five years, housing associations also built 1,339 new homes in South Yorkshire.

Commenting on the launch, our CEO Matthew Harrison who will chair the new partnership – said:

Devolution offers a great opportunity to work together with SYMCA and the four local authorities on their housing priorities to deliver the affordable and sustainable homes people in South Yorkshire want and need.

The housing associations in the partnership have a long-term commitment to investing in homes and communities in South Yorkshire.

We want to collaborate and look at how we can tackle the housing issues faced by the region, such as the supply of new homes and the need to decarbonise existing housing stock to help tackle the climate emergency.

By working together, we can achieve a greater impact and bring our housing expertise together to benefit local people and communities in South Yorkshire.

Nick Atkin, vice-chair of the SYHP and CEO of Yorkshire Housing, said:

The partnership enables housing associations in South Yorkshire to have a shared voice on the need for new homes to meet the needs of local communities.

Devolution provides a unique opportunity to build on our track record of collaboration, through working closely with the SYMCA and the local authorities to deliver real results for residents across South Yorkshire.