Eastlight brings 1,000 new homes to the East
We are pleased to announce that Eastlight Community Homes has completed its 1,000th new home in just three years since we formed.
The landmark home – a wheelchair-accessible bungalow – belongs to the 71-home Mount Hill development in Halstead. Four homes are for social rent; twelve houses, maisonettes and bungalows are for affordable rent (capped at 80% of the market value); and 55 homes are for shared ownership.
High-quality, energy efficient and above building regulations, the fully-affordable Eastlight-led scheme provides essential homes to some of the 2,500 households on the Braintree District Council’s housing waiting list. It also enables local people to realise the dream of home ownership and get a foothold on the property ladder.
Since 2020, we've accelerated our aims to help solve the housing crisis through the delivery of high-quality, affordable and sustainable homes for residents across the East of England.
Not only are we exceeding our new homes targets year-on-year, building 324 homes in 2022-23 alone, but we are also increasingly focused on taking the lead on our own housing developments to obtain greater control over quality and programme.
Eastlight's Chief Executive, Emma Palmer, speaks on this significant achievement:
To mark the occasion, Eastlight executives and our Customer Influence Committee greeted the newest members of the Mount Hill community with a welcoming gift, as we handed over the keys to their dream homes.
Future residents will soon be opening their doors at ‘Inman Avenue’, named to honour the late mother of local social housing champion, Alison Inman OBE.
Experienced Chair, Non-Executive Director and former President of the Chartered Institute of Housing, Alison was an influential Board Member of Eastlight and held a critical role in supporting the organisation through its merger.
On visiting Inman Avenue, Alison said:
“It was a privilege to unveil this road name at Mount Hill, in memory of my lovely mum. It’s such a lovely gesture from Eastlight, an organisation that is close to my heart, and it resurfaced the many happy memories I had during my time on its Board.
“Watching Eastlight continue to deliver on the commitments made during the merger process is wonderful. So many more people have a place to call home because of its creation, and the organisation is consistently going from strength to strength.”
We look forward to seeing where the path lies ahead for us, as we double-down on our commitments and support people across the East of England in finding their forever home with us, for generations to come.
You can find more information about our Mount Hill development here.
Read more about on our commitments and our New Homes Strategy here.
