There is something satisfying about having your own front door. Somewhere that only you, and your loved ones, can get through. Your own place, your own house, your own home.
One of the key priorities of Ipswich Borough Council (IBC) is the provision of more housing, to tackle the chronic shortage of accommodation in the Town. This isn’t just a problem for Ipswich, it is a problem all over the country.
IBC does build council properties and encourages building by other housing developers for private sale. Planning permission for 2,561 properties has been granted recently, with another 1,380 working their way through the planning permission process. This will please Keir Starmer, as he pledged at the Labour Party conference in 2022 that Labour will increase home ownership from 65% of the population to 70%. Sir Keir said,
“My message is this: if you are grafting every hour to buy your own home, Labour is on your side. Labour is the party of home ownership in Britain today.”
IBC has an ambitious council house build programme. The Labour administration has built 261 already, and these are all now occupied and providing homes. There are another 250 where building has started and tenders are out for builders for 50 more, which means that 300 more households on the waiting list can look forward to a new home.
IBC is spending about £80 million to construct those 300 properties across four sites, this includes expected grants of £17.5 million. These grants come from the Brownfield Land Relief Fund and Homes England. Up to £11.2 million of Right To Buy receipts will also be used,
All the homes will meet the “Ipswich Standard” set by IBC. This includes measures which are equivalent to the now withdrawn national Code for Sustainable Homes (Level 4). All new homes include Solar Panels and a range of other ecological measures, such as hedgehog highways.
I was pleased to visit Ravenswood last week. It was really great to see the first bricks being laid on this site by Gipping Construction. I look forward to the 96 properties being occupied next year.
Our biggest site with 150 properties is at Bibb Way, the former BT office building off Handford Road, where work has also started. The office block will be converted into 78 new flats by Norwich based Pentaco Construction. 72 new build houses and flats will be constructed in the former car park by Ipswich firm Brooks & Wood. These properties will be the first IBC properties to have air source heat pumps, rather than gas boilers. This will be a learning curve for IBC, in terms of maintenance, and for the tenants, as heat pumps can only change the temperature gradually unlike boilers which can be fired up when needed. The Government are insisting on heat pumps in new build properties from 2025 because they will help tackle climate change.
The Fore Hamlet site is the former Hope Church on Bishops Hill. The old church is already demolished and a building with 30 flats is planned.
Hawke Road, on the former Diesco site on the Greenwich estate, has planning permission for 20 houses and 6 flats. The site has already been cleared and work should start early next year. This site will also include completely refurbishing the play area, which will be great for local people.
Our priority of “Meeting the housing needs of our community” is well underway. We have an ambitious programme of council housing, building on previous work, that will continue to provide new homes. We are working with developers through the planning system to ensure that good quality developments are built. We look forward to enabling many more households to have their own front door.