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New affordable homes development officially unveiled in East Hanningfield
30th April 2007
The historic Essex village of EastHanningfield received a housing boost recently when the Leader of Essex County Council officially opened 12 new affordable homes for the area.
The development has been created by local housing provider, Colne Housing. The properties, which consist of a mixture of 2-bed flats, 2-bed houses and 3-bed homes, were built at a cost of over £1.3 million.
Colne Housing Society, which owns and manages nearly 2,000 affordable homes across Essex, invited Lord Hanningfield to unveil a special bench to mark the opening of the scheme. The homes were built by Essex Heritage Properties to fit in with the village look, and were developed by Iceni Homes.
Lord Hanningfield said: “These high-quality homes should be an example to many other villages around Essex that affordable housing in rural communities can work. Over 150,000 new homes are needed to meet demand in the county and schemes like this can help rejuvenate areas that have often been overlooked.”
Based at Geffrey Close, Old Church Road, the Colne Housing project has been developed over the past year and was built with the help of a £750,000 grant from the Housing Corporation. The new properties have been rented or sold on shared ownership to people with a direct link to the village.
Geffrey Close was named after local resident John Geffrey who was hanged at Chelmsford for his part in the Great Revolt of 1381. East Hanningfield is one of the oldest villages in Essex.
Robert Leng, Chairman of Colne Housing, said: “These homes are a wonderful addition to East Hanningfield. By expanding affordable housing in the area, a new vibrancy has been felt in the village. Villages are becoming too expensive for local people to live in and often house an aging population, with no provision for the younger generation. This will help sustain our rural communities for years to come.”
The opening was attended by a number of distinguished guests including the Deputy Mayor of Chelmsford, Councillor Philip Firth, Director of Essex Rural Community Council, Nick Shuttleworth and Peter Applegate, Chairman of East Hanningfield Parish Council. For more information about affordable homes offered by Colne Housing, log on to www.colnehousing.co.uk or telephone (01206) 244700.
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