Sentinel breakthrough with record number of new homes

Sentinel Housing Association has handed over the keys to more affordable homes in the recession than ever before.

In the year to the end of January, the not-for-profit landlord helped more than 1000 people come off waiting lists by completing 533 new homes across north Hampshire.

Additionally, the £280m government-backed housing programme helped keep the local construction industry in business throughout the recession, and saw Sentinel step up its ambitious programme to make homes more environmentally friendly.

Executive Director Bill Flood said: “We’ve been working hard with all our partners to keep construction moving during a very bleak period. We’re delighted that our record achievement has given a chance to so many people to move into a new home. The challenge for us is to continue this level of development against a backdrop of public spending cuts due to take effect next year.”

Sentinel completed 321 homes in Basingstoke, 136 in Rushmoor, and 76 in Test Valley, securing £36m of government investment in the area in the process.

The largest projects in Basingstoke included 98 new homes at Limes Park, Rooksdown, and 71 at Marnel Park in Popley. A further 106 homes at Bishops Green, near Newbury and Longfellow Parade, Popley, have also been finished as part of Sentinel’s ongoing regeneration programme.

In Andover, residents have moved into 76 affordable homes on the Augusta Park town extension at East Anton, with a further 170 due in the next two years. Many have been fitted with air-source heat pumps – a green technology that works like a fridge in reverse – to reduce energy bills by providing cheaper background heating.

Elsewhere, in Rushmoor, Sentinel’s 73 apartments at Crimea Road, Aldershot marked a bumper year, alongside 23 new homes at Amber Gardens, Farnborough, and the refurbishment of 40 ex-military family homes at Dukes Park, Aldershot.

Bill Flood added: “Although we’ve got another 700 homes on site or about to start, this is not just a numbers game. Projects like the regeneration of Popley Islands in Basingstoke and the provision of an extra care scheme for older people in Fleet, are as much about what happens when the builders have gone, and that’s why we’re still very much focused on doing the basics brilliantly, and going the extra mile for customers.”