Hundred Houses Society And Rural Housing Trust To Build Affordable Housing For Locals At Heart Of Society's Mission

Cambridgeshire based housing association, Hundred Houses Society is currently working with the Rural Housing Trust to build 10 homes for affordable rent in Newport near Saffron Walden, and have planning consent to build 28 new homes in Hardwick, where building will commence in March. Some homes are for sale on shared ownership terms and others for rent at around half of private sector lettings costs

The average rent for a 2 bedroom house is £305 per calendar month. On a 50% share basis the average sale price is £72,500. Rural shared owners are restricted to 80% of the equity in the house, so that when they wish to sell, the Society can usually find a purchaser with the local connection.

The homes provided in small rural settlements are owned by the Society and will always be let to local people with strong connections to the village. This is a condition of the planning consent and allows development only by housing associations registered with The Housing Corporation.

Hundred Houses Society welcomes the Council for Protection of Rural England (CPRE) support for small-scale development of affordable village homes to sustain rural communities, local shops and schools. For 75 years the Society has worked closely with parish and district councils, completing small developments of between 4 and 10 homes in villages such as Friday Bridge, Cottenham, Fen Ditton and Landbeach. Last year saw 40 homes completed in the villages of Bourn, Linton and Sutton.

More information about homes for rent and sale can be found on www.hhs.org.uk which also has a link to Keyhomes East, a government sponsored ‘Homebuy Agent’ for matching applications with available homes.

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Notes to Editors

1. More information at www.hhs.org.uk or by contacting Chris Jackson, Chief Executive on 01223 315036

2. The Housing Corporation is the government agency responsible for delivering new affordable homes and regulating 1,500 housing associations across England. Its current investment programme of £3.9 billion for 2006-2008 is its biggest ever and is set to provide around 80,000 new affordable homes from housing associations and private developers throughout the country. The Housing Corporation’s website is www.housingcorp.gov.uk.

3. Hundred Houses Society manages 850 homes in Cambridge, and is building 77 more in Cambridgeshire and north Essex

4. Housing associations are grant funded by the Housing Corporation and raise money by bank and building society loans to buy land to build new homes