A social housing consortium’s benchmarking group is holding a data collection week to help members mitigate risk and exposure when building affordable homes.
JV North is collating information from its 15 housing association members based across the North West to better know the housebuilding landscape it is operating in.
Members are providing JV North’s programme manager, Saffer Cooper Consultancy, with data in seven areas:
- Staff salaries
- Build costs
- Development appraisal parameters
- Contractor exposure
- Payment of main contractor invoices
- Percentage of first tranche Shared Ownership sale levels
- Number of new homes built in the past financial year
The data is then analysed and anonymised before being shared with JV North’s Development Group and decision-making Board.
By analysing contractor exposure, it allows JV North to know how many schemes specific builders are working on at any one time for each of the consortium’s 15 members along with costs, locations and project completion dates.
It also allows members to share recent experiences of on-site performance.
Chair of JV North, John Bowker, said: “The timing of this data collection week is really important coming ahead of the new Social and Affordable Homes Programme.
“Our members have ambitious plans to build at volume as the sector plays its part helping address demand for high-quality affordable homes in our communities.
“The results are of great value to members allowing them to identify trends, opportunities and risks collectively with larger and more accurate sample sizes.
“Housebuilding is a very competitive and challenging marketplace so a more data, intelligence-driven approach is crucial.”