£40 million social housing investment in Babergh and Mid Suffolk
Babergh and Mid Suffolk District Councils have bought 230 new homes for people on low-incomes
More than £40 million has been invested in buying 230 new homes for low-income house-hunters in Babergh and Mid Suffolk.
The additional properties will be added to the district councils' existing stock of council houses, or made available to buy as shared ownership homes.
They will be located at Haughley, Stowmarket, Woolpit, Lavenham, Wherstead, Wolsey Grange and Sudbury, and are being built thanks to a condition requiring developers to supply a certain number of affordable homes within projects.
A further 15 properties have been snapped up in Mid Suffolk with nine more expected to complete soon, while in Babergh, three more sales have completed with a further nine in the pipeline.
The properties are available immediately for council tenants and are in addition to construction already underway on council-owned land.
That includes the transformation of the former Angel Court care home in Hadleigh into 21 new one and two-bedroom flats, and 17 affordable homes being built in Shotley and Brantham.
Work is also underway on transforming the former Needham Market Middle School site and Mid Suffolk District Council's former headquarters into 130 homes.
Mid Suffolk District Council's cabinet member for housing, councillor Lavinia Hadinham, said: "As a local authority we have a responsibility to plan and invest in our districts to ensure people have the homes they need, and our communities can continue to thrive."
Babergh District Council cabinet member for housing, Councillor Jan Osborne, added: "This isn’t just about bricks and mortar. These new homes provide families somewhere affordable that they can be proud to call home.
"I wish all our future tenants and new home-owners across our district every happiness in their new homes."