Mayor James Palmer sees first-hand new shared ownership housing scheme unlocked by Combined Authority in Melbourn

Mayor James Palmer sees first-hand new shared ownership housing scheme unlocked by Combined Authority in Melbourn

Mayor James Palmer today (Friday 14th) visited new homes in Melbourn, South Cambridgeshire, which were unlocked through the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority’s £100 million Affordable Housing Fund.

The eight homes are part of a new phase at Victoria Heights being built by local company Granary Developments. They will provide prospective owners with the opportunity to buy affordable shares in new homes through a shared ownership scheme with Cambridge Housing Society (CHS).

The Combined Authority approves a grant of £133,000 towards the scheme in July 2017 which kicked off the fund along with nine other affordable housing projects. £37 million in grant and loan investment has been approved to date which will deliver 777 new affordable homes across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.

Mayor James Palmer said: “It’s great to be in Melbourn to see first-hand delivery on the ground of new homes enabled by the Combined Authority’s Affordable Housing Fund.

“The will five local people a chance to get on the housing ladder through shared ownership, allowing them to continue to live in an area which has experienced significant house price increases over recent years.

“Accelerating the delivery of housing of a range of types and tenures is one of the key responsibilities of the Combined Authority. We stand ready to help unlock a range of schemes across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, as well as continuing to build momentum in meeting our commitment to delivering 2,000 new affordable homes by 2022.”

Nigel Howlett, Chief Executive of the CHS Group said “I am please to show the Mayor around these homes at Melbourn so he can see how the Affordable Homes fund is being used.”

CHS has already invested in homes for rent on the first phase at Victoria Heights, and also set up a Timebank scheme and runs an Extra Care facility in the village.