Vistry Partnerships and Cheshire West and Chester Council are working together to build 189 high-quality, affordable homes across three sites as part of a joint effort to boost and rebalance the region’s housing supply.
By working collaboratively, both parties will accelerate the development of affordable housing to offer residents a broader choice in the housing market, and the start of work on site follows their earlier success with the Chase Park development which delivered the borough’s first council houses in 40 years.
The agreement will now see 55 homes built on land at the former Acorns Primary School, Ellesmere Port; 52 homes at Rivacre Business Centre, also in Ellesmere Port; and at Handley Hill, Winsford, 82 homes will be developed. The sites, named Acorns Green, Rivacre and The Weaver respectively, will feature a mix of property types ranging from two-, three- and four-bedrooms. Each of the properties will be competitively priced to ensure the affordability of quality new homes to a broad cross-section of local residents.
With planning permission granted earlier in the year, construction has begun on site with the first properties available for purchase in 2021. The homes at Rivacre are due to be sold to a local housing association, while those earmarked for open market sale will be available to buy through Vistry Partnership’s housebuilding arm, Linden Homes. Up to 57 of the properties across the three sites will be delivered on behalf of the Council and available to rent at an affordable price.
Through the delivery of these properties, Vistry Partnerships and the local authority are looking towards improving the borough’s sustainability by balancing out its housing supply while stimulating the local economy through private sector investment and the creation of new job opportunities.
Vistry Partnership’s Managing Director for the North West, Ian Hilliker, described the step as great news for local residents. ian said: “We are delighted to have started working on these three key residential developments. Once complete, there will be a broad range of housing options to meet the diverse needs of the borough, and we are thrilled our partnership with Cheshire West and Chester Council allows us to bring much-needed housing to the region.”
Councillor Karen Shore, Deputy Leader of the Council at Cheshire West and Chester Council, said: “The Council has been working with developers for a number of years to make sure we build the homes our borough needs. The start of work on these sites represents another significant step towards this goal, and we strongly believe that through private-sector partnerships we will effectively rebalance the region’s housing supply while delivering a range of houses which allows the area to thrive.”
