Babergh building its first council homes in 30 years in Lavenham

Published: 17:30, 16 September 2016

Lavenham New council homes'Meadow Close, Lavenham'Brick laying ceremony to mark the start of the project to build 12 new one bedroom homes there. This will be the first time Babergh have built new council homes in nearly 30 years.'Peter Bergoyne chairman BMS, Martin King assistant director specialised living, Cllr Jennie Jenkins, Alan Ferguson portfolio holder, Kevin Jones strategic director, Ian Tippett development officer BMS and Carroll Reeve chair fo Lavenham parish council'Picture Mark Westley ANL-160913-205448009

The first bricks have been laid as part of the building of Babergh’s first council homes in 30 years.

A brick-laying ceremony was held in Meadow Close, Lavenham on Wednesday, to mark the start of 12 new flats being built by Babergh District Council.

The scheme is part of a joint project by Babergh and Mid Suffolk District Councils to build 65 new homes – 27 in Babergh across two sites and 38 in Mid Suffolk across six sites.

The leader of Babergh, Jennie Jenkins and Babergh’s portfolio holder for housing delivery, Alan Ferguson, together with David Mittel from Brooks and Wood, an East Anglian based design and build firm, were joined by the council’s chairman, Peter Burgoyne to lay the first brick to mark the start of the project.

Twelve one-bedroom flats will be built on the site to meet an identified need for smaller rented affordable homes.

They will be let through the council’s choice based lettings system on an affordable rent tenancy and people over 50 years of age will be prioritised, again in recognition of the locally identified need.

The Lavenham project is part of a wider initiative announced last year to build 27 new homes in Babergh and 38 new homes in Mid Suffolk – the first new council homes in either district for 30 years.

The scheme is being delivered with development partner, Havebury Housing Partnership.

The homes are being constructed by Brooks and Wood and are due for completion in January 2017.

Mr Burgoyne said: “I am delighted that work is now underway to build our first new council homes in nearly 30 years. These will be high quality, modern and energy efficient properties to meet the needs of those on our housing register who are unable to afford to rent in this area on the open market.

“This project is a great step forward in our plans to provide more housing in our rural areas and it’s something we can all be proud of.”

Mr Ferguson added: “We know that places like Lavenham cannot grow and prosper if people can’t afford to live there, which is why projects such as this are so important.

“It means we are able to ensure that providing homes for local people with a real housing need can now become a reality.”

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