Work Starts on Nine New Affordable Homes For Clophill

On Wednesday 2 May building work started on nine new affordable homes on the High Street, Clophill. The scheme will cost £992,039 in total and seven houses will be ready for rent, and two for sale on a shared-ownership basis, in autumn 2007. The houses are being built by Aldwyck Housing Association facilitated by Mid Beds District Council, and part funded by the Housing Corporation.

The seven homes for rent are of three types - 2 two-bed bungalows, 3 two-bed houses and 2 three-bed houses - with two more homes built for be sold on a shared-ownership basis, which means low paid people can buy a stake in the house with the Housing Association retaining part ownership. This “starter home” enables people who cannot afford to pay the increasingly high cost of local homes to invest in some equity, which will then grow over time, and be able to move on to buy their own home in the future.

Graham Blair, Mid Beds’ Housing and Strategy Development Manager, said: “Mid Beds has identified there is a real need for rented and low-cost housing in the Clophill area. With house prices booming locally it’s hard for local people to remain in the villages they were born in and for key workers, like teachers and nurses, to move close to where they work. This will go some way to meeting the needs of local people and helping them to stay in their village and help key workers keep it a vibrant and living place.”