Housing associations play a vital role in providing the kinds of high-quality affordable homes in such high demand today.
But it’s fair to say that in recent years, they’ve found themselves operating in an increasingly challenging and complex landscape.
A recent strategic review by the National Housing Federation, which represents housing associations across England, highlighted several key factors that have posed new difficulties for the sector.
These included stretched finances, competing priorities and an ageing population that is currently struggling to access the type of properties it needs.
If you work in the sector, none of that will be particularly surprising.
The rising pressures of an unstable policy environment and evolving regulations mean it’s now more important than ever for housing associations to reduce their development risks.
Like walking a tightrope
The macro factors mentioned above churn up enough hurdles for housing associations before they can even think about individual projects.
But when it comes to common development risks, there’s even more to stay on top of to protect budgets and timescales.
Let’s begin at the earliest stages.
Right from day one
Well before boots hit the ground, there are already critical areas to explore that can make or break a housing association’s project.
Understanding the nature of your site’s land is essential to avoid any missteps when it comes to unstable ground, potential contamination or its historical use.
It’s always possible for what seems a straightforward location ripe for affordable housing to turn into an expensive nightmare if you fail to identify its industrial past or make allowances for the natural gases that lie beneath the surface.
Engaging experienced specialists to assess your land’s suitability can prove to be invaluable due diligence that flags any potential concerns early enough for you to rectify them efficiently.
Similarly, some housing association projects can fail at the planning stage, often because of regulatory issues that are overlooked.
Again, taking advantage of technical experts who understand local priorities and are familiar with current policies and legislation makes all the difference.
Designing risks out
Once you’re confident you know your land, it’s time to pay equal attention to the design and architecture of your homes.
It’s at this stage that housing associations can unwittingly expose themselves to long-term risks that may not rear their heads until many years down the line.
Poor or unclear specifications can mean your exciting vision turns into something else entirely once the build gets underway – meaning it’s always worth aligning your design intent with construction realities.
Indeed, by striving to create buildable, compliant and maintainable designs, you can effectively build performance, durability and resident safety into your property from the outset.
Keeping quality under control
After all that consideration, you might feel a tad relieved once construction finally commences.
Yet it’s at this point, of course, that all manner of risks can play havoc with even the most carefully planned and prepared project.
Whether it’s inconsistent workmanship, poor supervision or difficulties arising from a shortage of skills across the construction industry, there’s tons to keep an eye on when the work on site begins.
Providing your contractors and tradespeople with advance training that keeps them up to speed can work wonders for reducing defects.
Using the right building control service – ideally one with significant experience of housing association projects – will also ensure quality control is managed properly through regular inspections and strong technical oversight.
In it for the long haul
The build’s complete and the residents are in.
It’s now that you deserve to give yourself a pat on the back – but only provided you followed the advice above to reduce risks from site identification onwards.
Our specialist Housing Associations team has seen plenty of examples of developments where some risks weren’t addressed, leading to all manner of long-term operational and maintenance challenges.
Every single defect increases your overall lifecycle costs, raises the chances of resident dissatisfaction and ultimately devalues the assets you’ve invested in.
It’s why we’re so passionate about working with housing associations to help them tackle the unique risks they face day in, day out.
We’re proud to provide a full suite of services, spanning technical guidance and risk management support to assessments, comprehensive Construction Quality Reviews, training and support from our Land Quality Services and Building Control teams.
There’s always lots to consider when it comes to a housing association project.
Together, we can oversee it all.
