The Matrix Housing Partnership comprises GreenSquareAccord, Black Country Housing Group, Citizen Housing Group, Pioneer Housing and Community Group, Rooftop Housing Association and Trident Housing Association.

The Swan Lane development, which is being built by MORRO Partnerships on behalf of GSA, will provide 147 affordable homes for affordable and social rent. The development will meet a variety of local housing need by providing 41 two and 24 three-bedroom houses and 17 one and 65 two bed apartments.

Ruth Cooke Chair of Matrix Housing Partnership and Chief Executive of GSA said:

“It is an honour for the Matrix Housing Partnership to be recognised as a key strategic partner of Homes England. We have been collaborating for nearly 20 years and the construction start at Swan Lane demonstrates our continued success in delivering affordable homes.

“It was fantastic to see shovels in the ground at Swan Lane. This exciting new scheme will deliver almost 150 much-needed affordable homes in West Bromwich.

“Swan Lane is a special development as it will deliver the 2000th affordable home by the Matrix Housing Partnership since we first secured strategic partner funding from Homes England in 2018. This milestone demonstrates that despite all the challenges in recent years for our sector, we can still pull together and deliver high quality homes for our communities.

“On behalf of all the Matrix Partners, I would like to thank Sandwell Council, Homes England and MORRO Partnerships  for their invaluable support for this scheme.”

Sandwell Council is a key partner on the Swan Lane development and assisted with a successful bid for a £3.2million grant from the Black Country Local Enterprise Partnership to support the delivery of the scheme.

Sandwell Council’s Cabinet Member for Regeneration and WMCA, Councillor Peter Hughes, said:

“I am delighted that work is starting on this important development. Affordable housing such as this is key to tackle the housing crisis and homelessness and provide residents with a step onto the housing ladder.

“This shows Sandwell Council’s determination to achieve its Vision 2030 pledge to meet a full range of housing needs in attractive neighbourhoods and close to key transport routes.”

GSA have designed sustainability into the heart of their Swan Lane development with plans to plant plenty of trees and install electric vehicle charging points throughout the site. The development will contain generous amounts of open space complete with a pond to support local wildlife.

The new homes at Swan Lane will be constructed using prefabricated open-panel timber frames supplied by LoCaL Homes – an award winning, low carbon manufacturing facility based in Walsall.

Mike Doolan, Sales & Partnerships Manager at LoCaL Homes said:

“We are thrilled to be a part of the transformation of the former Swan Lane gas works, creating much needed affordable housing for West Bromwich.

“By constructing the houses using LoCaL Homes’ Eco-100 timber frame panel system in a quality-controlled factory environment, the overall speed of construction will be accelerated thus resulting in quicker handovers and earlier occupancy.

“As the home’s fabric is made from a sustainable material it will capture more carbon than traditional methods of construction and will be much more thermally efficient. This will subsequently help with the running costs resulting in lower fuel bills for customers.”