New council homes completed in Crawley

The first council homes to be constructed in Crawley for 20 years have been completed and officially opened.

The 16 flats at Aspen Court, Rushetts Place in Langley Green were jointly funded by Crawley Borough Council and the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) with grant funding approved in spring 2010.

The council was granted Investor Partner Status by the HCA making Crawley Council the first local authority to achieve this status. The council was awarded £976,000 grant funding from the National Affordable Housing Programme, a pot usually reserved for housing associations.

Councillor Lee Gilroy, the councils’ cabinet member for housing, said: “This is really exciting news for Crawley. One of the council’s priorities is to increase housing supply in the town and this is a great starting block for us to help push that forward ourselves."

Aspen Court features eight one-bedroom and eight two-bedroom apartments and has been constructed on a council-owned unused car park next to Langley Green Parade. The building works were completed by the council’s chosen contractor, Croudace.

Richard Holmans, managing director of Croudace Partnership said: “We have been delighted to work with Crawley Borough Council and to be at the forefront of the borough’s plan to re-commence building high quality new homes. Croudace has long associations with the Council and their past house building eras and hope to remain a key partner in the future.”

The new units have been built to code four eco-standards, which are the highest yet to be achieved in Crawley. The scheme was designed by Calfordseaden, which also served as the employers’ agent to project manage the scheme through to completion.

Green features include solar panels which will directly reduce the schemes running costs and the homes have also been built to ‘lifetime homes’ standards, accommodating the diverse needs of users over time.

As one of Crawley Borough Council’s preferred housing association partners, Moat has been appointed as the council’s development agent on the project. Moat has worked closely with the council to secure the grant funding and assisted the council to secure this new partnership status with the HCA.

Steve Nunn, Moat’s executive director of development and new business, said: “We’re delighted to be involved with this innovative project in providing the first new council houses for eleven years. We look forward to working with Crawley Borough Council to build a new community around these affordable, eco-efficient, high quality homes for local people.”

Ken Glendinning, head of area at the HCA, said: “This is a great example of high quality homes being delivered by the Council, to meet the housing needs of local people. The HCA is delighted to have supported this project with its investment funding.”