Southampton Cabinet Member visits Abri’s affordable housing development in Mansbridge

One of Southampton’s largest housing providers, Abri, welcomed Southampton City Councillor and Cabinet Member for Communities, Culture and Heritage, Spiros Vassiliou to see the progress of its site in Mansbridge.

Cllr Vassiliou received a tour of Herbert Collins House, a development providing 14 new homes for social rent - one of which will be fully designed for wheelchair accessibility.

The site is also being built by Abri’s in-house construction management team to guarantee the quality and is using local labour for the build. Cllr Vassiliou met with Abri’s Stephen Lodge to hear about their priorities to address the housing crisis and the importance of decarbonising existing stock, something that is so important for large organisations like Abri.

Councillor Spiros Vassiliou, Cabinet Member for Communities, Culture and Heritage, said: “Putting the community first in projects like this is essential for delivering homes that improve quality of life. I’m pleased to see Abri working in this way, particularly in Mansbridge and their wider community investment. By prioritising the needs of local people in the area, they will continue to bring more sustainable homes and opportunities to the community.

“Southampton has been identified as one of 20 cities’ nationally to increase their housing targets by 35% and we are committed to working in partnership with housing associations and developers to achieve this and Get Southampton Moving.”

As one of the leading housing providers in southern England, Abri is committed to tackling the national housing shortage by delivering at least 1,000 new homes a year.

With thanks to grant funding from Homes England and support from Wayfarer Partnership, a consortium made up of affordable housing providers and local authority partners of which Southampton City Council is one, Abri will be ready to welcome residents in spring 2022.

Stephen Lodge, Abri’s Executive Director of Development and Strategic Asset Management said:

“We’re proud to see the lasting legacy of Herbert Collins in Mansbridge - building safe and affordable homes in communities truly is what he set out to do and is at heart of all that we do. Everyone deserves to live in a home where they feel safe and secure.

“We’re also pleased to be a Gateway Partner, supporting Southampton’s bid to be City of Culture, the meeting with Cllr Vassiliou was a great opportunity to talk about the future of our city.”

Named after its founder Herbert Collins, the site has played a significant part in Abri’s history. The building is the former head office of Swaythling Housing Society which was set up by Herbert Collins himself in 1925. The site is now going to provide high-quality affordable homes for the Mansbridge community.