10,000 Homes in 40 Years and Counting..... - 14/01/07
Susan Marshall of Guildford is now the proud new owner of the 10,000th home provided by Thames Valley Housing in its 40 years of operation.At an opening ceremony on December 13th to mark the new development, a special presentation was made to mark the occasion by the chairman of Thames Valley Housing, Peter Williams Also present were Adrian Maunders, Director of Guildford Borough Council and Albert Scurfield, Divisional Operations Director at Kier Partnership Homes to celebrate the achievement.
As suppliers of affordable housing, Thames Valley Housing provides houses for rent and shared ownership through programmes including the governments’ HomeBuy scheme.
This development at Stream Banks in Pound Court includes 18 homes for affordable rent, comprising 14 two-bedroom houses plus 2 three-bedroom houses and 2 two-bedroom bungalows, which have been designed to be wheelchair accessible.
A Georgian Grade II listed farmhouse on the site provided the inspiration for the competition-winning design. Thames Valley Housing and another RSL were approached by Guildford Borough Council for a proposal to develop the site. Working with architects’ Calford Seadon, the Thames Valley Housing design was chosen and Kier Partnership Homes was engaged to carry out the construction.
Built using timber frame construction, Stream Banks meets the EcoHomes standard of ‘very good’ and the design resembles farm worker cottages with a large barn to complement the Georgian Farmhouse.
Keith Holloway, Thames Valley Housing Chief Executive comments: “Thames Valley Housing is committed to providing well designed homes for affordable rent and HomeBuy, and we are delighted to mark the occasion of our 10,000th home in 40 years of operation here in Guildford, where we have worked so successfully with the local authority now and in the past.
Stream Banks provides a great example of the types of developments we’re committed to, providing affordable homes for local people while preserving the environment of the area.”
Woods nearby host a colony of pipistrelle bats, so bat boxes were built to allow them to continue to live locally. The banks of the stream at the rear of the development have been protected to allow the wildlife and ecology of the stream to remain unaffected.
Stream Banks has been part-funded by a Housing Corporation Social Housing Grant of £900,000. The land has been provided by Guildford Borough Council.
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Notes to editors:
About The Housing Corporation
The Housing Corporation is the government agency responsible for investing in new affordable homes and regulating nearly 2,000 housing associations across England. Its biggest ever investment programme of £3.9 billion for 2006-08 will fund 84,000 homes; 49,000 of these will be for affordable rent and 35,000 will be for affordable sale through the Government's new HomeBuy initiative.
About Thames Valley Housing
Thames Valley Housing is a housing association based in Twickenham, West London. Founded in 1966, the association manages around 10,000 properties in London, Middlesex, Berkshire, Surrey, Hampshire, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Wiltshire and Sussex. It provides affordable rented homes, HomeBuy, market rent and key worker accommodation. Thames Valley Housing also manages the staff accommodation for six NHS Trusts.