Larkfleet Homes begins work on affordable housing in Bourne

Work has now started at a stalled housing scheme in Bourne thanks to government funding allocated by the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) to get construction sites back on track.

Larkfleet Homes, a Bourne based property and development company (www.larkfleethomes.co.uk), secured the government funding to build 47 affordable properties at Manning Road in Bourne.

The development has received a total of £2.8 million support – comprising £718,000 social housing grant and a £2,110,000 loan – from HCA as part of the government’s Kickstart initiative, which helps mothballed housing schemes get back on site.

The 47 properties at the scheme will include both flats and houses, and will be a mix of market sale and affordable homes. After completion, 15 of the properties will be sold to the Longhurst Group as social rented affordable homes.

The remaining properties will be sold privately and through the Homebuy Direct Scheme, where buyers purchase a minimum of 70 per cent of the property and receive the remaining 30 per cent as a loan from the HCA and the developer.

Work is due to be completed by the end of March 2011.

The properties sold through the Homebuy Direct Scheme will all be built to meet the Code for Sustainable Homes Level 3 - some 25 per cent above the standard building regulations specification for energy performance. The affordable properties sold to the Longhust Group will meet the Code for Sustainable Homes Level 4, highlighting Larkfleet Homes’ commitment to creating affordable, well-built and energy-efficient homes.

The development will provide additional employment opportunities for local people. Larkfleet Homes already runs a successful apprentice programme employing eight apprentices who will be involved in the construction of the new development.

Duncan Smith, strategic investment manager for Larkfleet Homes, commented: “This development will not only provide local people with employment opportunities but these homes will provide much needed new social rented housing in the area.”
Margaret Allen, regional director of the HCA, said: “We’re pleased to support this development that will bring forward much needed, high quality housing on brownfield land. The range of private, affordable and shared ownership properties will create a mixed community that people want to, and can afford to, live in.”

Larkfleet Homes currently has two other Kickstart funded sites, one in Eye, Peterborough and one in Oakham, Leicestershire. Between the three sites Larkfleet Homes is providing a total of 183 new properties.