Thirteen join the West Yorkshire Housing Partnership [Archived]

Now in its second year, the West Yorkshire Housing Partnership works closely with the directly elected mayor, the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, and local authorities to support the devolution deal agreed by the Government in March 2020.

As well as building new affordable homes, the group is also working with partners on local regeneration projects, connecting people to economic opportunity, tackling the climate emergency and fuel poverty, and supporting health, social care, and homelessness.

Since the partnership was formed, it has already developed a shared pipeline as part of the drive towards achieving the mayor’s target of 5,000 new affordable homes across West Yorkshire over the next three years. 

Earlier this year the partnership also secured over £5m in funding from the governments Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund in a joint bid with the West Yorkshire Combined Authority. In total £10m of combined funding will be spent making over 1,300 homes in West Yorkshire more energy efficient, helping contribute to the combined authorities’ ambition for West Yorkshire to become a carbon net-zero economy by 2038.

Helen Lennon, Chair of the West Yorkshire Housing Partnership welcomed Thirteen. She said: “We’re delighted to have Thirteen on board. The partnership have already secured over 2,000 affordable homes for West Yorkshire and have plans to thousands more over the mayoral term.

“We know West Yorkshire has a shortage of affordable homes, so growing the partnership will enable us to deliver more homes over the next few years. 

“We’re really excited by the energy and commitment that has developed since the partnership was formed and we’ll continue to place housing front and centre in the plans for West Yorkshire. We look forward to working with Thirteen to improve the lives of people living and working across the region.”

Thirteen is one of the largest housing associations in the North of England, with homes  across the North East, Yorkshire and Humber regions. They have an ambitious development programme to build new homes and have recently expanded their footprint into West Yorkshire, where they are delivering 200 affordable new homes for Kirklees Council, with more in the pipeline for the area.

Chris Smith, Interim Chief Executive at Thirteen, said: “We’re thrilled to be joining the West Yorkshire Housing Partnership.

“It’s a fantastic opportunity for us to work alongside well-established and like-minded partners who are passionate about housing and already have a strong presence across the region.

“It’s an exciting time for us to be expanding our offer into West Yorkshire, and we’re committed to meeting the aspirations of residents. We’re looking forward to creating homes that people can enjoy and feel safe in, as well as responding to the housing needs of diverse communities in West Yorkshire.”