Hightown contributed nearly £37 million to the economy and created 628 jobs last year by building 664 new affordable homes according to the association’s latest annual impact report.
The figures - estimated using the National Housing Federation’s local economic impact calculator - relate to the economic benefits felt through the supply chain as a result of the additional goods and services required to construct the new homes.
The report reveals 469 of Hightown’s new homes were allocated to people on local social housing waiting lists for rent at below market rates and shows that 46% of Hightown lettings in 2023/24 – totaling 414 new and re-let homes – went to households who were assessed as homeless by their local authority, over twice the average for the social housing sector in England.
According to the report, there are over 37,000 households waiting for social housing in the 15 local authority areas where Hightown owns homes across Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire, with nearly 4,000 families housed by those local authorities in temporary accommodation, 62% with children. The report also reveals that the 15 local authorities assessed a combined total of 15,397 households as homeless in 2022/23, each of whom were owed a statutory duty for either homelessness support or emergency housing.
Hightown chief executive, David Bogle, commented:
“As the nation faced an escalating housing crisis, we were proud to have ‘punched above our weight’ as a developer last year, maintaining our position as the fastest growing housing association.
“The value of these homes cannot be underestimated. While every pound we invest in development has a knock-on effect on the wider economy, it also takes some of the pressure off our local authority partners who have a statutory duty to house homeless families and individuals. Research shows that the societal benefits of these stable, good quality homes are far-reaching, including higher employment, lower benefit costs, improved healthcare, reduced homelessness, reduced crime and better life chances for children.”
According to the report, the housing association’s efforts to support vulnerable tenants to maintain their tenancies are also helping prevent a repeat cycle of homelessness. In 2023/24, its dedicated tenancy support team assisted 372 vulnerable tenants with their finances and wellbeing, recovering over half a million pounds in benefits, statutory funding and grants to ensure tenants who were struggling to pay their rent could live more comfortably.
David Bogle added:
“The cost of living crisis continues to hit the poorest families the hardest. We believe early intervention is key to protecting tenants who could be at risk of eviction - we offer person-centred advice and support, exhausting every avenue available to us to ensure tenants who want to keep their tenancy with us can continue to do so.”
Hightown’s 2023/24 Impact Report is available to download here.
