New scheme provides affordable village homes
29/05/2007
A NEW housing development has provided six new affordable homes in the village of Orlingbury. The homes were officially handed over at a ceremony attended by the Deputy Mayor of Wellingborough, Councillor Mrs Patricia Raymond.
“A small scheme like this can make a lot of difference to a rural community,” said Chan Kataria, chief executive of the East Midlands Housing Group which worked in partnership with the district council to get the scheme off the ground.
“This scheme provides much needed affordable homes for rent and sale through shared ownership leases. Shared ownership is an initiative helping people get a foot on the housing ladder.
“Developments of this type can help build sustainable, vibrant communities.”
Chan also praised the partners involved in the development including the council, the Housing Corporation, Grace Homes (the house builder), Ridge and Partners and Midlands Rural Housing, which is part of the EMH group.
The scheme will be managed by Northamptonshire Rural Housing Association (NRHA) – one of four housing associations working with Midlands Rural.
Jasper Hart, chairman of NRHA, explained that it had taken four years for the plans for the scheme to come to fruition and that the housing association had worked very closely with the parish council. NRHA had carried out a housing needs survey on behalf of the parish council in 2003 and that had revealed a need for six new affordable homes.
“Our aim is to provide affordable housing for local people and we like to work with parish councils to do that,” said Mr Hart.
Cllr Mrs Raymond said she was pleased to see the development completed.
“This scheme is helping people to remain in the village where they probably grew up and have many friends and family when they might otherwise have been forced out by market forces.”
The £750,000 development provides four rental properties and two through a shared ownership scheme. The original site formed part of Manor Farm which had been in the ownership of the Norton family since 1912. Tim Norton, whose grandmother was given the farm as a wedding present, said the family had been forced to look at alternative uses for the land when it was no longer viable to rely solely on farming. His grandparents ran a mixed farm of about 350 acres before it was passed down to his father, Dick, and his twin brother, Peter. Tim and his brother, Mark, did not follow the family into farming but their cousins, Andrew and John, now farm the remaining 170 acres.The new development is called Norlinton Close – the name coming from the Norton family’s once 80-strong Norlinton herd of pedigree Holstein Friesian milking cows. The housing development, which has been built on the site of the former milking shed and other farm buildings, also includes 14 homes for private sale by Grace Homes.