New homes

Connect Housing is an active developer of new affordable housing in West Yorkshire. 

We want to deliver high quality new homes, which are both spacious and energy efficient.  All the new homes that we build ourselves meet new zero-carbon-ready standards, as part of Connect’s commitment to tackling the Climate Emergency. 

How many homes do we build?

Our Business Plan ambition is to add an average of 50 homes to our housing stock each year.

In reality, this means we aim to build more than 50 a year. That’s because each year we lose houses from our stock as we sell them to tenants through things like Right to Acquire, Shared Ownership and staircasing.  

Each project we develop is usually between 10 and 30 homes in size.  

Where do we build homes?

We only work in West Yorkshire, and like to add new homes close to where we have a presence already. This helps us to deliver housing management and maintenance services effectively and efficiently. Most of our existing homes are in Leeds, and we have strong local partnerships in Calderdale and Kirklees. 

What kind of housing do you build?

We build affordable housing, with homes for rent and shared-ownership. 

Rents are below market level, usually at between 50% and 80% of the local market rate, depending on the scheme. 

Shared ownership is a part buy/part rent scheme, where you buy a % of the value of your new home, and pay a reduced rent on the rest.  Over time, you can buy additional shares in your home, buying it outright if you wish. 

You can find out about the mix of homes on each scheme, and whether you might be eligible to apply for one, by clicking on the links below. 

How are the developments funded?
Connect pays for the majority of the cost of its new homes from funding that we raised from lenders, effectively borrowing against the income we generate across our wider business.

Most of our new schemes are also part-funded by the UK Government through the Homes England Affordable Homes Programme.

Sometimes we apply for additional funding from other sources to help pay for “abnormal” costs associated with challenging sites.

Some of the homes we buy are purchased at a discount on market value, via obligations put on developers through the planning process. These are called section 106 agreements.

We deliver our new homes through three main routes:

• Connect-led – where we act as the main developer: Connect acquires the site, employs a design team to work up a scheme for which we then seek planning approval, and when Planning Permission is secure, we procure a contractor to build out the new homes.
• Contractor-led – where a contractor approaches us with a land opportunity, usually with planning permission, and we do a deal to build out the project exclusively for Connect. 
• Developer-led purchases – where we buy homes which are already designed (and may have already been built).  These includes homes purchased through section 106 agreements. 

We are always interested in speaking with landowners or housebuilders who share our passion for developing quality homes, and with whom we can partner to create new opportunities for affordable housing. 

Please get in touch with us at newhomes@connecthousing.org.uk, or call on 0300 5000 600.