12 industry leaders join forces to create the Future Homes Consortium – talking sustainability and safety in housing

The group are keen to have an inclusive process and would welcome any other organisations to join the consortium.

The Future Homes Consortium brings 12 developers and housing associations together from across the UK
Their collective portfolios exceed three-quarters of a million homes
They will help the industry take responsibility for the future by responding to shared issues around tackling sustainability and building safety

12 developers and housing associations from the UK property sector have joined forces to form a new consortium that will actively tackle climate change, sustainability, and address the safety of existing UK homes.

Known as the Future Homes Consortium, the group’s initial members are major industry players including Places for People, Riverside, Notting Hill Genesis, L&Q, Peabody, Gentoo, Thirteen Group, Orbit, Guinness Partnership, Swan Housing, Raven Housing Trust and Wheatley Group.

Together, they have a collective portfolio of more than 783,000 homes across the country and will work together to share ideas – finding ways to tackle sustainability and deliver homes that meet modern criteria. The group will focus on sharing practical ideas and initiatives on sustainability and building safety in new build and in retrofitting existing stock. It will look at not only best practice in the UK but across the World and seek to create synergies in resources that each organisation is already deploying on studying challenges in sustainability and building safety in their existing stocks. The group will also review their existing housing stock, as well as leveraging their collective networks to better address the sustainability agenda; the group is already coordinating with other sector-wide initiatives such as the UK Building Research Establishment.

The Group is very focussed on practical work programmes and the chair of the group will change annually and David Cowans will be the first chair of the group.

Two thirds of existing UK housing stock doesn’t meet the energy efficiency standards that have been set by the Government. In England alone, 11 million properties fail to meet EPC band C – meaning that two homes would have to be retrofitted every minute between now and 2050 to address the issue.

David Cowans said “I firmly believe that in bringing together the best people in the business we will help the sector achieve its targets. The Future Homes Consortium is already sharing data, best practice, ideas and support for each other as we implement new ways of working.”

Nigel Wilson, Chief Executive Officer at Gentoo Group comments: “The creation of the Future Homes Consortium is a huge milestone for the housing sector and Gentoo is proud to be a founding member. Climate change is the challenge of our generation and it is vital that housing associations collaborate to overcome the issues and challenges we face to modernise, retrofit and build homes for tenants that are fit for the future.”

Catriona Simons, Chief Executive, Guinness Partnership adds: “Whether we take a fabric first or technology enabled approach, and undoubtedly over time we will find it is both, net zero carbon presents one of the most significant challenges we face as a sector – intellectually, logistically and technologically – and a multi-billion pound one. Guinness is pleased to be a founder member of the Future Homes Consortium, as only collectively - through sharing R&D, expertise, and learning - can we meet this challenge efficiently and effectively.”

Elly Hoult, Group Director of Assets at Notting Hill Genesis, shares her thoughts: “The quality and safety of our homes and a commitment to greater sustainability are core strands of our new corporate strategy. We’re looking forward to the opportunities offered by being part of the Future Homes consortium to work collaboratively with others and make improvements for the benefit both of our own residents and of society more widely.”

Brendan Sarsfield, Chief Executive, Peabody comments on the challenge of older homes: “The Net Zero challenge is huge and daunting challenge, especially with the Victorian homes we own at Peabody, but we are excited by the opportunity to tackle this with other enthusiastic organisations. Facing this together gives us a lot more confidence we can deliver “.

Wheatley Group Chief Executive Martin Armstrong said: “As Scotland gets ready to host COP26 in November then it’s never been more important for housing associations and developers to focus on sustainability and climate change. Over the next five years Wheatley has ambitious targets to reduce our carbon footprint and make our homes warmer, safer and more affordable. The Future Homes Consortium allows us to share best practice and work together to deliver lasting change for generations to come.”

This is a growing initiative and the hope is that many more organisations will join the Future Homes Consortium.

For more press information about the Future Homes Consortium, please contact:

Press.Enquiries@placesforpeople.co.uk