Wellingborough exceeds affordable housing target ahead of schedule

The completion of 48 affordable homes by Wellingborough Homes at Mitchell Court, Broad Green, in early December has taken the total affordable homes delivered across the borough to 251 units since April 2015.

These 251 affordable homes have been delivered through the council’s housing association partners and are mainly homes for affordable rent, with a proportion also being available for shared ownership.

Leader of the council, Cllr Martin Griffiths, said: “This result shows that the council and its business partners are making things happen for local residents – each new affordable home helps an applicant on the housing register to secure an affordable home for rent, or in some cases helps younger people and families get their foot on the property ladder through shared ownership.

“Wellingborough Council has priorities to help high quality growth, to improve life chances for young people, and to enhance the environment and I am pleased that the new homes are helping to address all these priorities and boost the local economy.

“I’m also pleased that some of the new homes have helped to turn around disused sites near the town centre.”

The council provided capital funding to kick start some of the units, with additional funding coming from housing associations such as Wellingborough Homes and the Homes and Communities Agency.

Cllr Griffiths added: “The council has been working with partners to enable affordable housing for future years and the outlook for the next three-years (2018-21) is already looking positive.

“This position has been helped by the adoption of a North Northamptonshire Joint Core Strategy, which sets out a clear policy direction for affordable housing.”

The new affordable homes at Mitchell Court were handed over on December 9 and Wellingborough Council and Wellingborough Homes worked in partnership to identify the tenants for the affordable rented units.