The new town of Northstowe is positioned approximately 10 miles north west of Cambridge. As it grows over the next decade, the town’s 24,000 new residents will be able to enjoy high quality facilities and transport links, including cycleways, a guided busway, green spaces, shops and schools as well as a number of community spaces.
The first 1,5000-home phase of the development will see bpha deliver 300 affordable homes through an investment of around £44m. 180 of the homes will be for affordable rent and 120 for shared ownership sale.
Jeff Astle, Development and Sales Director at bpha, said: “We are delighted to be providing the first affordable homes on this initial phase at Northstowe. Private rents in this area can top £1,000 a month, so the fact we’re able to offer these family homes for just over £750 a month represents good value for money for our new customers.”
“We’re also looking forward to welcoming a number of new homeowners into our shared ownership homes at Northstowe too. Shared ownership enables purchasers to buy part of their property and rent the remainder from bpha. Qualifying purchasers require a smaller deposit and the monthly cost of their combined rent and mortgage will be significantly less than had they purchased on the outright market.”
The first phase of Northstowe includes 1,500 homes, the second phase will see a further 3,500 homes built. Across the two phases there will be a total of 2.050 affordable homes. There will also be further phases with more affordable homes.
Cllr Hazel Smith, South Cambridgeshire District Council’s Cabinet Member for Housing, said: “Affordable homes are a top priority for the Council and it is wonderful to see people moving in. We are determined to do all we can to help speed up the delivery of affordable homes across the district so many more people can benefit as they are beginning to do here. As with any new town, getting the first affordable homes underway takes a little time, but now we have them coming out of the ground there will be more and more being delivered.”
Terry Fuller, General Manager for Strategic Land at Homes England said: “It’s great to see the first residents moving into the affordable housing as an important milestone in the development of a new, vibrant community at Northstowe, which will ultimately see 10,000 new homes built at the site. The next phase of this project will focus on developing the town centre to become a hub for the new residents.”
About Northstowe:
Comprising almost 10,000 new homes, Northstowe will be home to more than 24,000 people. Phase One of the development will complete in approximately 12 stages and will see in the region of 1,500 new homes built.
bpha, in partnership with five different housebuilders, and bringing with it a wealth of experience from other major strategic developments such as Clay Farm and Trumpington, will provide the affordable element of this phase with an investment of circa £44m to deliver 300 affordable properties.
The first phase of affordable homes at Northstowe will complete in summer 2018 and will include more than 50 for affordable rented homes, together with almost 30 for shared ownership sale.
Overall, the total affordable housing will be 180 for affordable rent and 120 for shared ownership sale.
About bpha
bpha is a Housing Association which is committed to providing its customers with high quality, value for money services while continuing to build affordable homes. bpha has an outstanding track record of delivering on average over 500 new homes every year for the last decade. Based in Bedford and operating between Oxford and Cambridge, bpha owns or manages over 18,000 homes and employs over 380 staff.