Hightown Housing Association’s new Hatter’s Place development has been officially opened in the aptly named ‘High Town’ area of Luton.
The Mayor of Luton, Naseem Ayub, declared the homes open during a special ribbon-cutting event — one of her last events as Mayor. The event was attended by new residents, Councillors and staff from Luton Borough Council; Board members and staff from Hightown; and consultants and contractors involved in the building of the new development (pictured above).
Hatter’s Place is Hightown’s second housing development in Luton following the opening of Lintone Place in 2018. Hatter’s Place is located in Charles Street and is just a 10 minute walk from the train station and Luton shopping centre. It is also a short kick away from Luton Town Football Club (nicknamed the Hatters).
30 of the homes at Hatter’s Place will go to people in housing need nominated by Luton Borough Council and 19 are for shared ownership — helping people get a foot on the housing ladder. The new homes are a mixture of modern one and two bedroom flats as well as two, three and four bedroom houses. The development has been designed to provide local couples and families with quality affordable homes and benefit the local community.
This development is one of a number of projects where Hightown has purchased the land and let a contract to build the homes rather than working with housebuilders through a section 106 planning agreement.
The land at Hatter’s Place was previously home to two warehouses; one was used by Monarch to store aircraft seats whilst the other was used by Gilson, a global manufacturer of laboratory products. For many years before this, the land was home to Hitchin Road Secondary Girls School, which included an air raid shelter used during World War 2.
David Bogle, Hightown’s Chief Executive, said: “Considering our name, it’s perhaps surprising these are our first homes in High Town! We are really pleased to be providing these much needed new affordable homes for local people in Luton. Hightown is proud to be one of the UK’s fastest growing housing associations, having delivered over 1,000 new homes in the last two years. We’re planning to build more than 1,000 new homes in the next two years as well.”
