Developing new homes
At Great Places, we are proud to build the number of new homes that we do, which contribute to tackling the housing crisis. We create affordable, high quality and sustainable homes that meet the needs of customers and enhance local communities.
In 2019/20 we delivered 229 new homes for rent with an additional 698 affordable new homes currently being built. We also sold 258 homes for market sale and shared ownership, and overall invested £52 million to build new homes.
Our work supporting the most vulnerable and those who need care and support, to help them live as independently as possible in the community, remains very important to us.
In the last financial year, our offer and commitment to Independence and Wellbeing included investing £4 million in support revenue and employing 115 colleagues to manage services to meet a range of diverse customer needs from older people to young parents, to former rough sleepers and people with mental health needs or drug and alcohol issues. We also spent around £120k on adaptations to ensure our customers could stay in their homes.
In the last year, over 500 customers received a service in one of our supported housing schemes. Working with our partners who provide specialist care and support, we accommodated a further 800 vulnerable customers working with commissioners across 22 local authorities. In addition, we employ a team of seven Tenancy Coaches who support customers to live independently in their own homes.
Our Independent Living offer has seen us invest £240,000 in support revenue for elderly services. We have supported over 600 elderly customers over the last year in 15 Extra-Care and Sheltered schemes comprising of nearly 500 flats.
This year we celebrated the completion of our new development at Northfield Road in Moston, a 20-apartment scheme that offers specialist accommodation for people with learning disabilities. The scheme provides bespoke care support for each customer, whilst promoting independent living.
Each apartment has its own bedroom and living room in addition to adaptable kitchen and wet room facilities, which provide flexible living arrangements for customers. The building’s infrastructure facilitates the use of ‘plug and play’ technology, which allows a wide range of assistive technologies to be wirelessly installed and connected in order to support customers.
The scheme is one of four supported housing schemes designed for people with learning disabilities sited across Manchester. We worked alongside Wythenshawe Community Housing Group, Mosscare St Vincent’s Housing Group and contractors Engie to deliver the schemes in partnership with Manchester City Council.
The projects have enabled Manchester to bring specialist care provision back into the local authority, where residents can remain close to friends and family in accommodation that provides peace of mind that they have 24-hour care provision when they need it.