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Colchester City Council is set to achieve its long-standing commitment to deliver 350 new affordable homes by the end of the 2024/25 financial year – a target first established in 2019 – marking a significant milestone in its commitment to providing high-quality housing for local residents.
To date, 346 out of the 350 homes have been successfully delivered, with the final properties due to be completed in the coming weeks. This achievement reflects the council’s dedication to tackling local housing needs through a combination of new-build developments and the acquisition of ex-local authority homes from the open market.
This achievement follows Colchester City Council and Colchester Borough Homes’ success last November at the Essex Housing Awards 2024, where they won the Small Housing Schemes category for the Silver Band Close development in Boxted. The award recognised their innovative approach to creating accessible and sustainable housing that meets the diverse needs of the Colchester community.
The council has worked closely with Colchester Borough Homes, who provided valuable support and will manage the properties on behalf of the council going forward. Of the 346 homes delivered, 71 have been newly built, while 275 have been acquired through the council’s buy-back programme. These properties cater to a wide range of needs, including 74 one-bedroom, 119 two-bedroom, 138 three-bedroom, and 11 four-bedroom homes. Additionally, 27 properties have been specifically adapted to provide wheelchair access or level-access shower facilities, ensuring accessibility for those with mobility challenges.
Many of the new-build homes have received grant funding from Homes England, enabling the council to deliver homes to meet Colchester’s housing need. The council has also been able to use income generated by the sale of homes through the right to buy, towards the acquisition programme, ensuring all housing delivery provides value for money.
Cllr Paul Smith, Cabinet Member for Housing, said: “This is a fantastic milestone for Colchester, demonstrating our unwavering commitment to ensuring local people have access to high-quality, affordable homes. We are just a few weeks away from delivering on our target, and I am immensely proud of the hard work and dedication of everyone involved in making this happen.
“The need for affordable housing has never been greater, and this programme has provided homes for hundreds of households in need, including those moving from temporary accommodation, rough sleepers, and residents looking to downsize. By combining new-builds with buybacks, we’ve been able to deliver more homes faster and make the best use of available housing stock.”
The council has prioritised supporting those in the highest housing need, with 298 of the homes allocated to priority applicants. Of these, 33 have been let to Band A applicants, 220 to Band B, and 45 to Band C. Many of these homes have provided permanent housing for homeless households, contributing significantly to the council’s efforts to tackle homelessness in the city.
Furthermore, 53 of these homes have been let to tenants who wanted to downsize from their larger, underoccupied, family-sized home into a new home that meets their current needs. The larger family-sized homes are then re-let to families in need.
With just a handful of properties left to be completed, Colchester City Council is on course to fulfil its five-year pledge, reaffirming its commitment to delivering affordable, accessible, and sustainable housing for its residents.
Pictured above, L to R: Cllr David King, Leader of the Council; Cllr Paul Smith, and Karen Loweman, Director of Operations, Colchester Borough Homes
Page last reviewed: 18 March 2025