Curo News

Housing Summit 2025

Thu, 17 Jul 2025 11:19:55 Z

Bath & North East Somerset councillors pledge to work across party lines in UK first

The region’s housing crisis was under the spotlight, as more than 150 policymakers, activists and industry figures came together at the second annual Bath and North East Somerset Housing Summit.

The summit saw leaders from across the political spectrum commit to improve the supply of affordable homes in the area. Their signing of a first-of-its-kind housing accord establishes a commitment to work together, across party lines and beyond individual council terms, to create long-term change.

The commitment was signed against the backdrop of unprecedented housing costs and levels of homelessness in our region. Attendees heard that in some parts of Bath, average house prices stand at 18 times average salary. Renters on the open market can expect to spend about 40% of gross average earnings on housing.

The human cost of the housing crisis was a central theme of the event. Wayne Hemingway MBE, a passionate campaigner for affordable housing and founder of advocacy group, Housing Assembly, led a panel discussion of local young people priced out of housing in Bath.

He also read entries from the new Housing Assembly website, which was officially launched at the summit. The site, thehousingassembly.co.uk, offers a platform for people locked out of the housing system and collects evidence of its dysfunction to build the case for urgent change.

He shared Bethany’s story who, though she works, is forced to sleep in her car. She describes herself as a mentally vulnerable woman and says, despite her dire situation, has no hope of accessing social housing.

On signing the landmark housing accord, Councillor Kevin Guy, Leader of Bath & North East Somerset Council, said:

“Only by working together and putting politics aside can we truly start to address a broken housing system. This accord is a turning point. It shows that no matter our political differences, the signatories are united in our commitment to deliver the right homes in the right places, for our communities across Bath & North East Somerset.

“We believe that through co-operation and innovation we can do our bit to urgently address the broken market and deliver more, truly affordable homes in our area. The housing crisis demands bold, long-term thinking—and today we’ve taken a major step forward together.”

The West of England Mayor, Helen Godwin, who also addressed the conference said:

“Tackling the housing crisis is not something any single organisation or political leader can achieve alone. By working together across authorities, and with government, we will build the right homes in the right places, with the services and infrastructure that local people need and deserve.

“We are already working with Homes England and Bath & North East Somerset Council to support work to deliver new homes at Bath Quays and along the Bristol to Bath strategic growth corridor. This new Housing Accord commits us all to further strengthen those partnerships, working together to solve this housing crisis.”

Reflecting on the success of the event, Victor da Cunha, CEO of Curo and Chair of the local Housing Mission Delivery Board, said:

"Bath & North East Somerset has become the first council in the country to sign a cross-party housing accord - we shouldn't underestimate the significance of that. The shared vision of eradicating the housing crisis and providing people with quality homes they can afford will also help to release the economic potential of our region."

New affordable homes

Thu, 21 Nov 2024 11:25:42 Z

We’re happy to announce that we have received planning approval for a large new residential development in Keynsham, located along Bath Road. This project will deliver 208 homes designed with energy efficiency, community living, and sustainability in mind.

The development will include a mix of 168 houses and 40 flats, with 62 of these homes designated as affordable housing. These will be managed by Curo, with 47 allocated for social rent and 15 available through shared ownership. All homes will be tenure-blind, ensuring no visible distinction between affordable and market-sale properties.

What to Expect

A mix of home styles: Ranging from two-storey houses with dormer windows to three-storey properties along the main route through the site and fronting the A4 Bath Road.
Green spaces and community amenities: The site will preserve part of the Green Belt, transforming it into allotments and an orchard, alongside generous landscaped areas for residents to enjoy.
Recreational facilities: Two new sports pitches will be provided—one dedicated to Two Rivers CofE Primary School and another open for public use. This builds on our commitment to supporting local young people, including our sponsorship of Keynsham Town FC’s under-13 team.
Sustainable transport links: Infrastructure upgrades include a new signal-controlled junction on Bath Road, pedestrian and cycle path improvements along the A4, and a long-awaited connection from Keynsham to the Bristol-Bath Cycle Path.

Supporting Keynsham’s Growth

This development represents a significant investment in the Keynsham community. In addition to delivering much-needed housing, we’ll contribute approximately £2 million through the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL), with £300,000 directly supporting local initiatives in Keynsham.

Timeline

Spring 2025: Infrastructure work begins, including the new junction and cycle/pedestrian pathways.
Late 2025: Construction starts.
End of 2026: First homes expected to be completed.
2030: Full completion.

Director’s Statement

Stuart Smith, Director of Technical at Curo, said: “This project is a natural step in Keynsham’s continued growth and will include options for social rent and shared ownership for local people.

We're excited to create something that will genuinely benefit the town, providing the things Keynsham needs like highway improvements and more recreational spaces. We appreciate the support from Bath and North East Somerset Council and look forward to continuing to work closely with the community to make this vision a reality.”

Five big reasons why we love Shared Ownership

Wed, 23 Sep 2015 02:00:00 Z

Since the 1980s Britain’s been a nation in love with home ownership. The Right to Buy, introduced by Margaret Thatcher’s Government, allowed council tenants to buy their homes for the first time, at a reduced price, and 1,885,580 properties have been sold between 1980 and 2014.

Thirty years later, the market is very different, Today’s appetite for home ownership is as strong as ever, but increasingly hard to satisfy – here in Bath & North East Somerset, a buyer would need to earn over £70k to get a mortgage for the average-priced home.

Extending the Right to Buy scheme to Housing Association properties promises to offer tenants a route into home ownership, and the blogosphere’s awash with views on this from every angle. How it will affect the supply of affordable homes, and the viability of Housing Associations, is much-debated. However I’m not going to add to that here; instead, I’m giving a bit of the limelight to another home ownership scheme that’s also a product of the 1980s: Shared Ownership.

Shared Ownership has stood the test of time and, right now, it’s enjoying a quiet revival. Nationally, sales saw a 55% increase from 6,248 in 2009/10 to 9,735 in 2012/13. At Curo, Shared Ownership’s enabled us to build new homes for nearly 500 customers over the past decade.

So what makes Shared Ownership so popular with buyers and housing associations alike? Here are five reasons for its enduring appeal:

1 Buy what you can, when you can

With Shared Ownership the customer buys what they can, purchasing a share in the property (the clue’s in the name) - usually 40-50% but sometimes as little as 25% - with a mortgage. They pay a reduced rent on the remainder. They then have the option to purchase more shares, in most cases up to 100%, as and when they can afford it – known as ‘staircasing’.

2 Lower deposits bring the first rung within reach

Shared Ownership properties can be bought with deposits as low as 5% (compare that with the 10-20% typical of conventional sales). Furthermore, that deposit is only applied to the share being bought, making the deposit considerably lower than buying on the open market. As an example, to buy a £170k home a Shared Ownership buyer would need to raise a deposit of £4,250 – assuming a 5% deposit on a typical 50% share. Buying the same home conventionally would require £17,000 for a 10% deposit, and considerably more for 20% deposit.

3 Lower repayments

Shared Ownership schemes make the overall cost more manageable – in fact, often cheaper than renting in the private sector. One reason is that the rent paid on the share not owned is usually well below market levels. Across England the average monthly costs of Shared Ownership are £668, compared with £784 for private renting.

4 Prioritising people in housing need

Shared Ownership is designed for people who couldn’t otherwise afford to buy a home. Existing housing association or council tenants are given priority and only households with an income of less than £60k are eligible (although it’s higher in London). Some developments will have other local eligibility criteria – for example living or working locally.

5 Protecting affordable housing

When a shared owner wants to sell their shares and move on, the housing association is given several weeks to try to find a buyer who couldn’t otherwise afford a home on the open market. That’s important because, unlike Right to Buy, it gives us the chance to make these homes available for the next family who want their chance at home ownership.

Shared Ownership is the daddy of affordable home ownership products, and there are others, tied together under the Help to Buy badge. These include Help to Buy Equity Loan, Help to Buy Mortgage Guarantee and two new schemes: the Help to Buy ISA and Starter Homes.

We support choice, and want to work with government locally and nationally to support people’s aspirations of owning their own home. Shared Ownership is a product that can offer a real, sustainable alternative to renting or Right To Buy.

Curo Shared Ownership

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