First ever £100K Homes now under construction in key milestone for scheme’s birth

Work is underway to build Cambridgeshire and Peterborough’s first ever £100K Homes.

Mayor of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority, James Palmer, who is spearheading the groundbreaking scheme, visited a new housing development in Fordham today (March 3), where the first eight £100K Homes will be completed before the end of 2020.

Mayor Palmer met with leading housebuilder Hill at the Rayners Green site, a development of 97 homes in a joint venture partnership between Hill Group and Scotsdales Garden Centre, which will include £100K Homes as part of the housing mix. Foundations have already been laid for the first properties, representing a significant step forward in the scheme’s progress.

£100K Homes are new-build, 100%-owned one-bedroom properties which offer a combination of affordable deposit and affordable mortgage payments. They are aimed at giving people who live or work in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough a genuinely affordable step on the housing ladder, while enabling them to live to close to where they work. They are part of Mayor Palmer’s response to the housing crisis which is seeing many people locked out of the property market and forced to pay expensive private rents, or are stuck living at home with parents to save costs.

The £100K Homes website (www.100khomes.co.uk) was launched at the start of February, allowing people to find out more and register their interest in buying homes when they become available.

Only a limited number of homes will be available initially, with demand expected to significantly exceed supply. But the more interest and support from the public, the quicker and at greater scale Mayor Palmer and the Combined Authority can deliver the homes. Members of the public can back £100K Homes by logging on to the website and signing the register of support.

“To see the first £100K Homes coming out of the ground I hope serves as a sign that this initiative is a reality and it is happening. We are seeing the birth of the scheme. This is physical evidence that our model works for developers, especially forward-thinking ones like Hill, which is hugely promising as we try to accelerate their delivery.

“The foundations have been laid, quite literally, for £100K Homes as a model, but we are under no illusions that this only scratches the surface of meeting the demand in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough for affordable ownership housing.

“We want to now press on and turbocharge this unique scheme, and everyone in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough can play their part by supporting it, because the need is everywhere and the need is urgent.”

“We are very proud to be working with the Mayor of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority to deliver the first £100K Homes. The initiative is truly remarkable and has the potential to change how affordable housing is delivered and sold across the country. At Hill, we pride ourselves on being at the forefront of innovation in delivering homes which are truly affordable, and this initiative is a prime example of how the private and public sector can work together to effect real change.”

“I am delighted that East Cambridgeshire is first out of the ground with this fantastic concept. This is a scheme that we whole-heartedly support and we have committed to as part our corporate plan for the district.

“We’re confident that this is the first development of many for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough and we hope to see more £100k Homes developments in East Cambs in the near future.”

Other benefits of £100K Homes include owners having an increased ability to save compared with private rents for an equivalent property. And just like owning any home, owners build equity in their property through mortgage payments and can benefit from any house price growth when they decide to move on.

£100K Homes are made available at a discount to their full market value through a legal agreement which stays with the property. The next purchaser would also be someone who would qualify for a £100K Home and they would also benefit from the same percentage discount to the open market value of the property.

The Mayoral Combined Authority is continuing to work with developers like Hill to secure more sites for £100K Homes.  A Westminster launch event for the scheme, hosted by Mayor Palmer, takes place on March 17.