NEWARK AND SHERWOOD HOMES ON THE WAY THANKS TO HCA GRANT

14 January 2010

The 26 homes, which will be a mixture of houses as well as apartments and bungalows, will be provided by the council in partnership with its housing management organisation, Newark and Sherwood Homes.

The £1,025,839 grant, representing 14% of the successful new homes in the east midlands region and distributed as part of the Local Authority New Build Programme's second round, will see homes at affordable rent levels built on former garage sites at Norwood Gardens, Southwell (four apartments and three houses), Sycamore Close (five new apartments) and Grange Road (two bungalows and three houses) in Newark, and Stafford Avenue (six apartments and three houses) in Balderton, helping to re-use underused brown field land while providing affordable housing for local people with a housing need.

The schemes will be built to a high energy efficiency standard and all will meet level four of the Code for Sustainable Homes, meaning those on council housing waiting lists will have a quality new home at a rent they can afford, with lower energy bills and a reduced impact on the environment.

Newark and Sherwood Homes submitted the bids on behalf of Newark and Sherwood District Council.

It was one of 86 local authorities which applied for funding under round two of the programme, which was oversubscribed by approximately £240m due to high levels of interest from local authorities.

Each bid underwent a rigorous assessment process focusing on value for money, fit with local priorities, quality and speed of delivery, and the strength of the bids saw a 100% success rate in attracting investment, as it did in the first round of funding for Council House Building last year.

Newark and Sherwood District Council's cabinet member for health and homes, Cllr David Payne, said: "As a rural community, housing affordability has been particularly hard hit in Newark and Sherwood.

"I hope these new homes provide energy efficient, secure and comfortable accommodation for families in our district with a housing need."

Chairman of the board of Newark and Sherwood Homes, Ginette Hughes, said: "I am delighted that we have been able to work with the council and formulate the bids.

"The bid round was heavily over-subscribed so our expertise to formulate the high calibre bid submissions have clearly been vital."

Margaret Allen, regional director of the Homes and Communities Agency, said: "The level of interest has been tremendous and demonstrates the appetite of local authorities to lead directly on affordable housing supply. We are pleased that this investment will allow Newark and Sherwood District Council to start building their own high quality affordable homes and it will help to create sustainable new communities in the area."