In conversation with Robert Marcantoni

Video Transcription

Charlie:
Hi, I'm Charlie Ash, Sector Lead for Housing Associations at NHBC.

I'm going to be interviewing Robert Marcantoni, Development Director at Riverside, today and we're going to be talking about affordable housing and the coming year.

Charlie:
Robert, what are you most optimistic about in affordable housing this year?

Robert:
I suppose I'm optimistic about trying to make a difference and develop homes from the Riverside perspective. We've got a number of homes in planning at the moment that are coming through. We're preparing our bid for the GLA and Homes England, trying to maximise that within the 10-year programme.

As a housing association, we've got a lot of what we've asked for from government, so it's really trying to bring that together, tying in with our investments in existing assets and our remediation programmes and bringing those online.

So there's a lot to be getting on with. We're looking forward to doing that this year.

Charlie:
And what would you say your priorities are for 2026?

Robert:
Getting those homes through planning as seamlessly as possible.

Really engaging with our residents on our regeneration schemes. We've got a number of regeneration schemes on site at the moment and we're working through those.

Absolutely, our priority is putting in a bid and retaining a strategic partnership with the GLA and Homes England and working through that.

I think we've got a lot to be getting on with on our remediation programme and that's taken a lot of capacity from our development business at the moment, alongside investment in existing assets.

So that's still very much a focus for this year, making sure we deliver on our customer promises and setting out our next corporate plan that will take us into the new GLA programme.

So that's a real priority for us this year.

Charlie:
And how do you think the industry can collectively deliver more affordable homes?

Robert:
I think working together, working in partnership, is really, really important.

We've got a lot of examples of that through joint ventures with development partners, local authority contacts, our design consultants and the whole team that links in through that from a development side.

I think it's incumbent on us to really try and work together collaboratively to deliver those much-needed affordable homes.

There's a real housing crisis at the moment and it's really important that we all do what we can collectively to deliver on that.

Charlie:
Thanks for your time, Robert. It's been really good to hear from you.

Robert:
Thanks for inviting me.