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VICTORY HOUSING TRUST WINS £1.5 MILLION GOVERNMENT GRANT FOR NEW HOMES

17th Apr 2016
John Archibald of Victory Housing Trust left and Richard Dove of Dove Jeffrey cut the first sod at Chapel Road Roughton

Victory Housing Trust has secured £1.5 million of government funding, enabling it to make a start on 58 new affordable homes on three sites in north Norfolk.  The news was announced by Victory chief executive John Archibald at a sod-cutting ceremony to mark the start of work on the first of the new homes.

The grant, from the Homes & Communities Agency (HCA), will boost a £7.5 million investment by Victory to enable new affordable homes for rent and low-cost home ownership to be built in Roughton, Bacton and Fakenham. 

Work will start very shortly on the first of these, at Roughton, with the other two schemes currently going through the planning process.  John Archibald was joined by Richard Dove from contractor Dove Jeffrey to cut the first sod at the Roughton site, where 21 of the new homes will be completed by next summer.

Forty-one of the new homes will be made available for rent, with a further 17 earmarked for shared-equity and shared-ownership schemes.

Announcing the grant, John Archibald said, “The amount of money available from the HCA to support the building of new homes has drastically reduced over the past few years, and there is stiff competition from housing associations across the UK for the small amount which is still available.

“We are delighted to have been awarded such a large sum, which will enable us to move forward with these three important schemes which will provide 58 new affordable homes in north Norfolk.

“It is always pleasing to get to this stage, when construction can actually start, and it is our hope that the other two schemes will progress through the planning system quickly so that we can get on with building these much-needed new affordable homes for the area.”

The three sites are as follows:

  • Chapel Road, Roughton: has started on a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom houses and flats, with 12 homes destined for rent on a ‘local lettings’ basis, and nine homes for low cost home ownership.  The overall budget for this scheme is £3.5 million, and the contractor is Dove Jeffrey.
  • Coast Road, Bacton: currently going through the planning process, this scheme will see 24 new homes built, a mix of flats, houses and bungalows, including a wheelchair-adapted bungalow.  19 of the homes will be for rent, and five for low cost home ownership.  The budget for this scheme is £3.5 million, and the contractor is Wellington.  Subject to planning, Victory hopes to start on this site in the summer.
  • Baron’s Close, Fakenham: currently going through the planning process, this scheme will see 13 new homes built, ten one- and two-bedroom flats for rent, and three houses for low cost home ownership.  The budget for this scheme is £2 million; a contractor has not yet been appointed.  Subject to planning, Victory hopes to start on this site in the autumn.