An extra £3 million has been secured to provide more than 100 affordable homes at a major new development in Huntingdonshire.
Local housing provider bpha (Bedfordshire Pilgrims Housing Association) working with support from Huntingdonshire District Council, has secured the funding to provide homes for affordable rent and shared ownership at Love’s Farm, St Neots.
Already almost £7 million has been allocated to the district by the Housing Corporation, of which £636,223 has been set aside to build 21 flats at Loves Farm. The extra £3 million means that a further 101 affordable homes can be provided.
The figure represents over a quarter of the allocation of about 400 ‘affordable’ homes to be built as part of the 1,250-home development. A new school, relocation of a local football club, and community facilities are also being provided. The council and bpha have been working closely with the developers, Gallagher Estates, to bring forward the planning applications, to enable the housing grant to be secured.
The affordable homes will be a mixture of flats and houses, mainly with one, two or three bedrooms, although a few homes for larger families will also be included. The homes will be available to rent or to buy on a shared ownership or similar basis. Shared ownership enables people to part buy and part rent, helping people who might not otherwise be able to achieve home ownership. The first homes are expected to be completed early in 2009.
Deborah Reynolds, executive councillor for public health and housing, said, “This is tremendous news and means that we have a fantastic £10 millions from the Housing Corporation to fund much-needed new affordable housing in the district. On top of this, the council is committing a further £2.4 millions of its own resources this year to allow other affordable housing schemes to commence.
“House prices in our district are such that many local people cannot afford to buy their own homes. We have more than 2,000 households on our housing register and this money will help us to meet some of this need.”
“We are very pleased to be working with Bedfordshire Pilgrims Housing Association and Gallagher Estates to have so far secured provision of more than 120 affordable homes on this prestigious development at St Neots.”
John Cross, chief executive of bpha, said: “As a major housing provider in Huntingdonshire we are committed to making the best use of available funding to help meet local housing needs.
“We are delighted to be working in partnership with the district council, and to have been able to access additional funding – which is allocated based on our strong track record.”