Residents celebrate new affordable homes during Rural Housing Week

Residents and specialist rural housing developer, Hastoe Housing Association, are celebrating the opening of newly completed affordable homes in Cambridgeshire and Devon during Rural Housing Week (1-5 July).

Residents at Colne got off to an early start on Friday 28 June with the celebration of residents moving in to 10 affordable homes at Howgate Grove in Colne, Cambridgeshire. On Friday 5 July, a further 6 affordable homes will be opened at Cannomede Cottages, South Tawton.  Later in the summer, Hastoe will be marking the completion of another 8 affordable homes in Cheriton Bishop, Devon. All these developments have been built on rural exception sites and with the full involvement of the local community.

Andrew Potter, Chief Executive at Hastoe, said:

“These housing developments make a huge difference to people living in rural areas. Homes built on rural exception sites are reserved solely for local people and must be affordable in perpetuity. Working alongside the local authority and local community, we make sure our houses are designed and built to match the local environment and meet real local housing need. Our homes often have a big impact on local village life too, helping to keep families together and local amenities open.”

Ulrike Maccariello, Development Director at Hastoe, said:

“Hastoe has a long-standing commitment to producing high quality, sustainable housing. We always build in a way that suits the local environment but we also make use of appropriate technologies to reduce energy use and keep costs low for residents.”

At the celebration opening in Colne, Leonie Spatchurst, a resident at the newly developed Howgate Grove, said:

“I love my new home and being able to live back where I know everyone. My life has changed so much since I moved here with my 3 children. We used to live in a damp cottage but now we’ve got a lovely new home and, because I live back near my family, my mum is able to help out with the children when I go to work. I also really enjoy being back near my friends because we can easily drop into each others’ houses and I have more of a social life again.”

Including the 8 homes that were completed in the village of Powerstock in Dorset earlier this year, Hastoe will have completed over 30 new homes in 2018/19 for rural communities in need.