Warmington charity gifted £350,000 home to create two new affordable almshouses
A small village charity in Warmington, near Oundle, has been donated a £350,000 property by a generous local benefactor, creating a rare opportunity to deliver two new affordable homes at a time of growing housing pressure across the region.
Warmington Almshouses Charitable Trust (WACT), was founded in 1862 by Fanny and Charlotte Proby of Elton Hall, initially for ‘aged widows’, and has been providing local low-cost housing to locals in need for over 160 years - and is now expanding for the very first time.
Unlike most almshouse charities, which mainly cater to elderly residents, WACT has no age restriction on residents and has supported young single people and families as well as older residents.
One former resident, Nicola, who lived at the almshouses with her young daughter Alice, said: “WACT is an amazing local charity. They provide good accommodation, with affordable rent, and efficient support. Because almshouses require a local connection (I've been part of the village since 2011), being able to stay in the village is invaluable to me and my daughter. They also let us keep our extra family members with us - our small pets - which private rentals won't allow us to do”.
The charity is run entirely by volunteers and has no endowment fund. Previous major refurbishment work left WACT with unexpected costs and long-term debt, which trustees are steadily paying down through residents’ weekly maintenance contributions. Renovating the newly gifted property will now require significant fundraising and community support.
Steve Cheeseman, Chair of WACT, said: “This gift is extraordinary. The donor happened to see that a property situated right next to our existing three almhouses and approached the charity, telling us they would like to buy it for us. We were astonished and incrediibly grateful.
"It gives us the chance to turn one house into two genuinely affordable homes for local people, but as a very small charity we can’t do this without support. Every pound raised will go directly into creating homes, not overheads.”
The project also highlights a wider national issue. Successive governments continue to exclude almshouses from official definitions of “affordable housing” and “community homes” in the National Planning Policy Framework. This means almshouse charities miss out on funding streams and Section 106 opportunities routinely available to housing associations, despite providing long-term, community-rooted housing at genuinely affordable cost. WACT have joined The Almshouse Association in lobbying local and central political figures for some time over this matter.
“If governments were serious about unlocking more affordable housing, almshouses should be part of the answer,” said Steve Cheeseman. “The model already exists. The trust is there. The need is obvious. In Warmington, we’re proud to be playing our part, and we’d love the community to be part of it too.”
WACT have launched a JustGiving fundraising campaign to support the renovation and is also appealing for practical help from builders, tradespeople and professionals willing to offer expertise or discounted services.
For more information, visit the WACT Facebook page: https:// www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61583357769254