This week we talk to Jane Williams and Vikki Walker of newly formed Southern Housing, with a portfolio of over 77,000 houses on offer and a view to building more new homes, and how Shared Ownership is helping buyers get onto the new home housing ladder in the Capital…
Firstly, congratulations on the successful merger of Optivo and Southern Housing Associations late last year, forming what is now Southern Housing; how’s it going so far?
We are extremely pleased so far and the feedback has been positive. Although the merger has just completed, it is the result of many months of engagement with residents, staff, external partners and internally amongst ourselves to discuss our vision for the team.
By coming together, we can be a stronger and more resilient organisation, investing in scale and accelerating our development pipeline, allowing us to positively impact more lives and communities.
Residents of homes from the two previous organisations were asked to co-create your new customer service promise ahead of the merger; how important was it to gain their input?
Although housing refers to bricks and mortar, for us it is about people, and residents are at the heart of what we do. To provide the best possible service, we must listen to residents and understand their needs, wants and pain points.
Customer service is essential, and in sales, our reputation is a key selling point. We have high expectations underpinned by high targets, and our sales team is regularly hitting 95% customer satisfaction for our service on viewings and completions.
You’re keen to build more affordable housing; do you think enough is being done to create new, fairly priced homes for people in the areas you cover?
We offer a variety of intermediate housing schemes including Shared Ownership and London Living Rent. London Living Rent provides rented homes on stable tenancies that provide peace of mind, with rents based on a third of local household incomes. This reduced rent allows people to gradually save towards a deposit.
We were offering Help to Buy before applications closed at the end of last year, which has left a gap in the market, but the other range of products available will step up; particularly Shared Ownership.
We’re now one of the largest house providers in the UK with over 77,000 homes across London, the South East, the Isle of Wight and the Midlands and we have ambitious targets to increase the number of new build homes, supporting even more people.
We also commit to building energy-efficient, sustainable homes; looking beyond the initial outlay and supporting with on-going costs.
You have a particular focus on Shared Ownership schemes; can you explain the value of this incentive to your buyers?
Shared Ownership enables customers to finance a share they can afford, typically between 25 and 75%, while paying subsidised rent to the housing association on the remainder. The key advantage is that they only need a mortgage for the share percentage, which means a much smaller deposit is required compared to buying on the open market.
Shared owners can decorate as they please, and sell their share if and when you want, or buy more shares over time, known as staircasing, up to full ownership.
Is there a particular life-stage that Shared Ownership is most suited to, or is it for everyone?
Shared Ownership is usually associated with first time buyers but it's available to anyone including second steppers, upsizers and downsizers.
Our ‘typical’ customers tend to be in their thirties, looking at alternatives to renting, or are making their first move from home. It varies across the types of homes and the areas we’re selling in, which range from studio apartments to 5-bed houses, in the city or in the suburbs. We have homes for buyers who are just looking for their own space, through to those with growing families.
How do you support first-time buyers going through the Shared Ownership route?
We pride ourselves on our customer service, and our expert teams are on hand to guide buyers through every step of the journey. Some people come to us already knowing that they want to use Shared Ownership at a development they like. And we educate others by explaining their options. We’ll make sure our customers know what costs to expect and offer support to enable them to make an educated decision on what is right for them.
Are there other incentives or schemes you’d like to see introduced to help people buy a new home?
It would be great to have a new equity loan product like the Help to Buy equity loan. We would also like to see more exclusive Shared Ownership mortgages, with better interest rates, come to the market.
Can you tell us more about Home X in Brighton and Greenside in Roehampton?
Home X forms a key part of the Preston Barracks Regeneration just outside of Brighton city centre. It’s being delivered in collaboration with U&I, Brighton & Hove City Council and the University of Brighton and is an exciting new neighbourhood of 369 homes. We’re creating a vibrant sense of place and community with landscaped outdoor spaces, flexible workspaces (in the Plus X Brighton innovation hub), a convenience store, café and workshops, a medical centre and pharmacy. We have a selection of studio, 1, 2 and 3 bedroom homes for both Shared Ownership and open market sale.
Greenside is a leafy community of 54 Shared Ownership homes near both Richmond Park and Putney Heath in Roehampton. Our homes are set around courtyard gardens, backing onto Richmond Park Golf Course. A number of homes are available exclusively for those living or working in the local area to support local growth, and all homes come with a 12-month car club membership.
What’s the response been to the developments so far, are they attracting a lot of interest?
Home X has been extremely well received, attracting a diverse range of buyers from local NHS workers to those who studied in Brighton and want to lay down roots in the city longer term, as well as people from further afield wanting a new lifestyle nearer the coast. Greenside has only just launched but in the first two weeks of viewings we have reserved 10 properties off-plan and have more upcoming, fully booked viewing days planned.
And finally, what’s next for Southern Housing in 2023?
We will continue our mission to become the best provider of new, high quality, affordable homes, building communities that people love. We’re hoping to deliver over 700 new homes in 23/24, across our core areas of operation in London and the South East, in locations like Brighton and Hove and Hackney, plus some new and exciting areas for us like Southall and Shoreham where we’re bringing over 400 homes to market. We’re also working hard behind the scenes on a new website, CRM system and a host of customer tools to make the buying process with us as good as it can be. Exciting times!