London Borough sees major investment in affordable housing

Property management group, Orchard & Shipman, has secured £85m of funding to provide up to 300 affordable housing units in a joint venture with Bromley Council.

The funding is provided by a major institutional investor and Bromley Council and will be used by the property management group to source, buy and manage the properties.

Orchard & Shipman will run the properties on a fully insuring and repairing basis for 50 years, after which ownership will revert to Bromley Council at no cost to the local authority.

Cllr Peter Morgan, Bromley Council’s executive councillor for renewal, recreation and housing, said: ‘We are excited at the potential to increase our housing supply which will not only provide much needed housing for residents we need to support but is also another example of how careful financial management can go hand in hand with delivering housing. 

‘This is positive news for those residents who may find themselves in temporary accommodation for longer than ideal, and for council taxpayers.’

Orchard & Shipman have been working with the London Borough of Bromley for over 10 years.

Chief Executive of the Orchard & Shipman Group, Chris Shipman, said: ‘This new funding initiative aims to speed up the urgently needed acquisition of affordable housing for those who find themselves homeless and in temporary accommodation with good quality permanent homes.

‘It has long been known and understood that bad housing is a major contributor to poor health, poor education and poor employment opportunities and the Covid pandemic is just making this worse.  As a registered provider of affordable housing this is exactly the type of social project we want to be involved in.’

In related news, West Yorkshire Combined Authority has agreed funding to help deliver 5,000 affordable and sustainable homes on brownfield land.

Photo by Pedro Ramos