For-profit housing providers have entered the affordable housing space in a big way. James Riding and Jenny Messenger from Inside Housing sat down with some of the market’s biggest players – including Preferred Homes’ Findlay MacAlpine – to understand who is backing them and what strategies they are taking.
Quietly and steadily, the number of homes owned by for-profit housing providers is growing. Inside Housing can reveal that the 10 biggest for-profits – registered providers that are backed by private capital from institutional investors and developers – now own more than 40,000 homes in England, up from 9,000 five years ago.
The figure still amounts to just 1% of England’s total affordable housing stock. But consultancy Knight Frank expects the number will more than double by 2028. Things could change even faster as for-profits look to complete large-scale stock transfers to take on homes from traditional housing associations.
For some people in the sector, the term ‘for-profit’ implies an ethos that is at odds with the moral purpose of social housing. This is far from the reality, says Findlay MacAlpine, chief executive of Preferred Homes.
Read the full article, including Preferred Homes’ outlook on the market here.