Eastlight nominated for hat-trick of Essex Housing Awards

We are delighted to confirm that Eastlight has been nominated for three different honours at the prestigious Essex Housing Awards.

Longacre – a development of 17 high-quality affordable homes built on land that was previously the site of dilapidated, disused garages and post-war prefabricated housing in Cressing is nominated in the Excellence in Development – Small category.

Apartments in Manor Street in Braintree town centre are also up for the Meeting Housing Need gong.

Completed in July, the £7.1m scheme – which includes 12 homes for social rent and 23 for shared ownership – was supported by £2.1m Homes England funding and done in partnership with Braintree District Council.

Eastlight Development Director Andrew Hull said: “We are delighted these two brilliant schemes have been nominated at the Essex Housing Awards. 

“The new homes at Longacre have enhanced the area and, most importantly, made a positive difference to the lives of the new residents. 

“We are proud of the extensive consultation and community work which went into this development including building a storage shed for nearby St Barnabas Church and installing fencing to create a safe and secure garden where members of its children’s groups can play.

“At Manor Street, it has been fantastic to bring truly affordable homes to the town centre – including 12 at social rent - and allow people the opportunity to get onto the property ladder via shared ownership which has proved very popular.

“We were delighted to work with Braintree District Council to deliver the new homes and the project is a great example of partnership working.”

Eastlight has also been nominated in the Supporting Covid-19 Recovery category for our Repairs Recovery project.

During the Covid-19 lockdown periods, members of Eastlight’s Home Solutions Team – their inhouse repairs service – were only permitted to enter resident’s homes in an emergency and for statutory safety checks, which led to a backlog of other repairs.

The Repairs Recovery Project which ran from the end of 2021 and into 2022 saw frontline experts who usually work in empty homes or on planned works, moved across to help clear the backlog.

Head of Repairs and Maintenance Daniel Miller said: “This nomination is recognition of the hard work our entire Home Solutions Team put in during the Repairs Recovery Project, and beyond.

“I’m proud to lead this team and their performance is reflected in the fantastic feedback scores consistently provided from our residents.”

The awards ceremony takes place at Greenwoods Hotel in Ingatestone on November 3.