Iceni Homes and housing developer Lovell begin construction work on major regeneration project for charitable housing association Hundred Houses Society in Cambridge.
Cambridge City councillor Kevin Price, executive councillor for housing, attended a ground-breaking event to mark the start of the £6.75m programme which will deliver a complete regeneration of Hundred Houses’s first ever neighbourhood — Eastfield in Chesterton, Cambridge.
In a partnership with Iceni Homes and Lovell, Hundred Houses will replace 26 existing homes with 50 new-build properties. The new housing will feature 35 affordable rent homes and 15 shared ownership homes, all of which will be managed by Hundred Houses Society.
Partly funded by the Government’s Homes and Communities Agency, the scheme is due to be completed in March 2018.
Designed for the needs of 21st Century customers, the regenerated neighbourhood will include shared green spaces, rain gardens, integrated cycle paths and off-street parking. Properties will benefit from high-quality insulation and high-efficiency boilers, windows and doors.
The Eastfield neighbourhood, the first area developed by Hundred Houses Society in 1935, is due a major regeneration, with properties requiring major upgrades to insulation and energy efficiency. While the original site only included three-bedroom homes with large gardens, the regeneration has a mix of property sizes from one-bedroom apartments to three-bedroom houses, and also includes two-bedroom bungalows, one of which is fully wheelchair accessible. All the homes are designed to the ‘Lifetime Homes Standard’, which meets the needs of customers with mobility issues and can help people stay in their homes for longer.
Mary Gibbons, CEO of Hundred Houses Society, said: “We are pleased to be able to regenerate this neighbourhood in a way which reflects the needs of the customers both now and in the future. This is an exciting development which delivers more truly affordable homes for Cambridge.”
Phil Murton, interim managing director at Iceni Homes, said: “We are delighted to be starting the work on site for this exciting project that we have been working with Hundred Houses on for the last couple of years. A true example of partnership working, the completed scheme will provide high-quality new homes in a modern setting, and is one of a number of projects we are currently delivering for Hundred Houses in Cambridgeshire.”
Lovell regional director Simon Medler commented: “This important regeneration project will create much-needed brand-new affordable properties, built to modern standards, with a strong focus on energy efficiency. Our team are extremely pleased to be bringing their expertise in delivering high-quality homes to this major scheme in partnership with Hundred Houses Society and Iceni Homes.”
The housing teams at Hundred Houses Society have been working closely with local residents to keep them up-to-date with plans for the site and to move customers into alternative accommodation while building takes place. Many existing customers will be moving back into new homes in the neighbourhood when building is completed.
