Launch event for Salford City Council's new housing company

Salford City Council’s new housing company Dérive has been officially launched.

Salford City Mayor Paul Dennett and Dérive directors, Councillor John Merry and Councillor Tracy Kelly toured the site and visited the new homes.
The council set-up Dérive with £2million of Section 106 money to help tackle the ‘housing crisis’ in the city.

The keys to the first 20 two and three bedroomed properties were handed over to tenants from the start of September and they are now settled in their new community. Another 23 homes are anticipated soon.

Salford City Mayor Paul Dennett said: “I am so proud that we have been able to provide brand new affordable homes for local people to live in. To see them settled in their new community will be one of my proudest moments since starting office.

“We set up Dérive behind the scenes at the town hall in 2017 to help tackle the housing crisis. The reality is in Salford we have 6,614 people on our housing list, a five per cent increase on last year, with 51 bids for every home advertised. We know these homes will not solve the problem of the shortage of affordable homes but we need to help local people.”

The properties at Riverbank View in Charlestown were bought off plan from Keepmoat Homes by Dérive to provide affordable homes for people in Salford.
Dérive’s homes at Riverbank View are part of a wider 430 home development by Keepmoat Homes, where a fifth (86) of the homes are affordable, 

Great Places Housing Group bought 43 affordable homes and Dérive intends to buy the remaining 23 affordable homes when the final stage of development takes place.

Councillor John Merry, a director Dérive, said: “This is just the beginning of the story of Dérive – a local success story and one that will be copied nationally.

“In the absence of government support we are doing things our own way and providing affordable homes for local people. Other local authorities are contacting us to see how we brought the plans to reality.

“We bought these homes off the shelf but the plan for the future is to build our own homes as the company grows.”

Councillor Tracy Kelly, a director at Dérive and Lead Member for Housing and Neighbourhoods at Salford City Council, said: “It is fantastic news that residents are all now settled in their new homes,

“Affordable home are much needed, figures show that the unaffordability of housing has increased by 15 per cent. But In Salford we have secured funding for 1,158 affordable homes so the pipeline of housing continues.”

Craig Murphy, Regional Managing Director at Keepmoat Homes, said: “We are delighted to have been able to work with Salford City Council and support the launch of its new housing company Dérive by delivering 20 new homes for its tenants on our Riverbank View development.

“This development demonstrates how the public and private sector can work together to deliver high quality mixed tenure developments and it’s fantastic to be here today alongside Salford City’s Mayor, representatives from Dérive and Great Places Housing Group to meet local residents.”

Lee Sugden, chief executive at Salix Homes said: “Today is a great moment for housing in the city and we’re proud to be playing a part in it.

“The Dérive properties, along with those that us and other housing providers are building in Salford means that more and more affordable homes are being created at a time when they are desperately needed.

“We already provide housing services to thousands of residents across the city so it is great to welcome these new residents in to their homes and we look forward to helping them make the most of their new place.”