First new council homes for 30 years to be built in Corby

FE Peacock, part of the Larkfleet Group, has won the contract to build twenty-six new social homes for Corby Borough Council. The properties in Arran Way will be the first council homes built in Corby for around three decades.

Some 146 properties were demolished in Arran Way on the Lodge Park estate to make way for the new development which is part of a wider Corby Council regeneration scheme to revitalize older housing areas as part of a Borough-wide strategy to double the town’s population by 2030.

The development will be funded by a grant of over £1 million from the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) to Corby Borough Council. The grant will be matched pound for pound by the council.

The new site will consist of 7 four-bedroom homes, 9 three-bedroom homes, 8 two-bedroom homes and 2 two-bedroom bungalows.

All properties will be available at affordable rent from Corby Borough Council and work is due to be completed by the end of March 2011.

This is the first time that FE Peacock will be working directly with a local authority to build properties rather than social landlords or registered housing providers.

The properties will all be constructed using timber frames manufactured and built by Kestrel Timber Frame, also part of the Larkfleet Group. The timber frame construction methods allow properties to be constructed in a short time period. The timber is sourced from sustainable forests.

All properties on the development will meet the government’s Code for Sustainable Homes level 3 – some 25 per cent above the current minimum requirement set out in building regulations.

Corby Borough Council’s lead member for housing, Cllr Bob Eyles, said: “This is fantastic news for Corby and further highlights the success of the Borough’s regeneration programme. FE Peacock’s work on this development will provide much needed new affordable homes in the area. The Arran Way development has been in our regeneration plans for some time now so it is very exciting that we will soon be able to see it take shape.”

Karl Hick, managing director of FE Peacock, commented: “I am very pleased to be working with Corby Borough Council on this exciting regeneration project. The affordable properties will be of high build quality and environmental standards. This development will continue the regeneration of the town that is transforming it for the future.”