Iceni Homes deal will offer 83 ex-Army homes for rent (From Gazette)

Iceni Homes deal will offer 83 ex-Army homes for rent

3:30pm Thursday 9th July 2009

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SCORES of empty former Army houses are to be turned into homes for rent to needy local families A £12.5million deal, funded by Colchester Council, the Government and a housing group will help reduce the town’s housing waiting list, by providing 83 much-needed new family homes in Oakapple Close.

The move, combined with the news 40 more homes are being offered to the council for rent on the Riverside Quarter site, promises to cut more than 120 families from Colchester’s burgeoning 3,528-strong waiting list.

“I’m delighted these family houses are being made available for people on the council’s waiting list. It’s good news and 83 families will benefit.”

MP Bob Russell

The ex-Army houses, in Oakapple Close, were ruled surplus to requirements in February and sold to Annington Housing, a company which specialises in redeveloping former MoD accommodation.

Now the company has sold the houses to Iceni Homes, a group run by three housing associations.

They will be refurbished and offered for rent to families on Colchester’s council housing list.

The deal – backed by council and Government funds – has been welcomed by Colchester MP Bob Russell as “excellent news for Colchester families”.

He said: “I’m delighted these family houses are being made available for people on the council’s waiting list. It’s good news and 83 families will benefit.”

Last month, Mr Russell told MPs in the Commons about 200 former Army houses standing empty in Colchester, complaining each costs taxpayers £3,500 a year to maintain in an empty state.

The new deal involves Iceni, a group run by three East Anglian housing associations, including north Essex-based Colne Housing group.

Iceni has paid £5.5million to buy the houses from Annington Homes. It now plans to spend about £7million refurbishing them over the next 18 months.

Colne Housing, which already manages more than 2,000 homes for rent in north Essex, is contributing £6.7million to the project, with the Government’s Homes and Communities Agency giving £5.4million and Colchester Council chipping in £407,000.

When the MoD first sold off the homes, buyer Annington said it intended to refurbish them for sale on the open market.

Iceni managing director Mike Goodson said: “Colchester Council’s generous intervention means Iceni has the capacity to expand its delivery of affordable homes and create an attractive community in the heart of Colchester, offering new hopes of a home to dozens of hard-pressed families.”

Colne Housing’s chief executive, Mark Powell Davies, added: “There is a great need for affordable houses in Colchester.

“There is an abundance of flats, but the demand for two and three-bedroomed houses is greater, because they are more practical for families.”

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