Luminus works with partners to come up with innovative solutions to fund new development and provide much needed affordable homes.

ARC Partnership

Successful discussions during 2008/09 secured partnership with the HCA programme partner, Aldwyck Housing Association (as part of the ARC partnership), enabled Luminus to access an element of grant for a period of time to fund new development.

Huntingdonshire District Council

In 2012 we embarked upon on an innovative programme with Huntingdonshire District Council, who provided grant funding to extend a selection of 3 and 4 bedroom properties with an extra bedroom, and to purchase a small number of larger homes from the current private housing stock within the district.  This has proven to be a cost-effective method of dealing with growing demand from larger families for good quality, affordable homes.

We will supplement our mainstream development programme through building new housing on a proportion of the 250 garage sites that we own over the next 10 years.  Working with Huntingdonshire District Council, we have identified a pilot programme of 5 sites to be developed between 2014 and 2017 with the intention of bringing more forward in later years.

Meeting housing need through new development

We look to our partners to identify and contract with tried and trusted developers, whose responsibility it is to bring forward land for development, work through the statutory planning process to gain maximum benefit, construct homes to the appropriate standard and then provide Luminus with affordable housing developed at its cost of production.

Luminus has a long-term agreement with a development body for the provision of affordable homes delivered at cost. This has resulted in the direct provision of 93 affordable homes at a discount by 2014, as well as access to some 700 additional homes through various partnerships generated across Cambridgeshire.

This long-term, measured approach also has borne fruit in recent property developments and sales at The Marque, Cambridge, Harston and Histon in South Cambridgeshire, as well as in Huntingdon.  In addition, there are 272 further affordable homes in the development pipeline for the forthcoming period.