In a deal between Kier Property and Kent County Council, work is to be started on over 150 new homes across the county offering a mix of market sale, new, rental and affordable housing to local people, creating new jobs and helping to ease the south-east’s chronic housing shortage.

Bringing together international pension fund investment and a local housing provider with an innovative developer and the county council, the Kier-Kent deal is one of the first of its kind in the country to get off the drawing board providing a national template for others to follow.

As part of the deal, Kier will fund and develop the sites, providing private market and affordable housing which will be leased to a leading registered provider, creating a residential investment income.

Following the completion of the land transfer, Kier will seek planning permission to build 152 new homes on three sites in the county with a mix of tenures to meet local needs.

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Leader of Kent County Council, Paul Carter, said: "This is just the kind of deal that needs to be cracked to get Britain building. Through an innovative land transfer, 152 new homes will now be built for local people, and local jobs and apprenticeships will be created.

"By harnessing its assets effectively, the council will also benefit from a long-term income stream which can be reinvested in local services. With many developments currently stalled across the country, this is a groundbreaking scheme for Kent which gets local people working and local housing moving. I have no doubt the approach will be replicated around the country."

The long-term investment is provided by a fund that seeks to invest pension funds/monies into affordable housing projects to provide stable returns. The opportunities presented by developments such as the Kier–Kent initiative are becoming increasingly attractive as a low-risk source of regular income from inflation-linked rents.

Kier is currently involved in similar discussions with other local authorities, county councils and private land owners to use this innovative, institutional investor-backed model to build thousands of homes across the UK.

The Government's housing strategy, 'Laying the Foundations', estimated that 232,000 new homes need to be built every year for the next 20 years and schemes such as the Kier-Kent initiative could offer a potential solution to help meet the demand for new homes.

The development will also attract significant investment in the local area, creating new employment opportunities and apprentice places. Kier is committed to ensuring that project funding is recycled within the local community with at least 66% of funding to be spent on SMEs within 30 miles of the site. Clients benefit from the consistency, quality and value for money offered by a major contractor combined with local delivery teams.

(CD/GK)