New Year in new homes – council housing boost for Babergh and Mid Suffolk
A montage of housing developments in Bramford, Laxfield and Needham Market with (insert) councillors Jessie Carter and Richard Winch. Image: Babergh and Mid Suffolk Council.
Tenants have picked up the keys to more than 120 new affordable council homes over the last 12 months in the Babergh and Mid Suffolk area.
Working with housing developers, as well as developing properties on council-owned land, Babergh and Mid Suffolk District Councils added 128 new properties to its housing stock during 2023: with 42 new homes in Babergh and 86 in Mid Suffolk.
This brings their total housing stock to almost 7,000 homes in the region; with 3,526 homes in Babergh and 3,373 homes in Mid Suffolk.
The new properties include several built on re-purposed council land in Mid Suffolk.
The former Stowmarket Middle School and Needham Market Middle School sites were bought from Suffolk County Council when the schools closed with the brownfield sites then earmarked for social housing.
During 2023 a total of 17 homes have been completed in Needham Market and the first four homes were also delivered in Stowmarket, with a further 38 homes on the site scheduled for completion during 2024.
The councils have also secured a number of new homes through Section 106 contributions – legal agreements with housing developers to provide a certain amount of affordable housing as part of each development – meaning new council houses are built alongside private sale properties as part of new, growing communities.
The additional homes have enabled residents to move off the council housing waiting list and also helped more people onto the property ladder with the additional provision of 18 homes available to buy under a shared ownership scheme.
Jessie Carter, cabinet member for Housing at Babergh District Council, said: “Ensuring everyone has a safe and secure place to call home is a priority for our council. The developments in the last 12 months add high quality properties to our social housing provision and mean that more tenants can remain within their communities, close to family and friends.”
And Richard Winch, cabinet member for Housing and Property at Mid Suffolk District Council, added: “Our investment in social housing means we can offer a more varied choice of good quality, sustainable homes of different sizes, types and tenures to meet the needs of wide range of different households. It is important to us to be able to support our residents and to encourage and develop thriving communities, where people want to live.”
Further plans are in the pipeline to ensure the delivery of more new council properties during 2024/25, meaning even more tenants can look forward to moving into their new homes in the year ahead.