Eight 'affordable' Hungerford homes to be built

Development is first for council and Sovereign joint venture

A SITE in Coldharbour Road, Hungerford, will be one of the first to be developed under a new joint project by Sovereign Housing and West Berkshire Council.

As revealed by this newspaper in November last year, the association wants to build eight homes on the site of the former Chestnut Walk care home, which was forced to close after falling victim to West Berkshire Council’s far-reaching cuts to public services in 2016/17.

The building, which once housed a community, is now abandoned and at risk of becoming derelict, according to neighbours.

Sovereign Housing spokesman Tim Abbott said this week: “Having been approved by [West Berkshire Council’s] executive and our board last year, Sovereign and West Berkshire Council are close to creating a new and innovative joint venture, taking greater control and building more much-needed new homes, more quickly.

“Chestnut Walk, in Hungerford, has been identified as one of the first sites that will be developed by this joint venture, pooling our land, investment and skills to replace a disused care home with eight new and affordable homes.”

Paul Hewer (Con, Hungerford) has said the homes would be constructed off-site in a factory-type environment, then brought in by cranes.

Mr Abbott said: “We’re expecting the site to ultimately feature eight new homes for shared ownership, potentially built using modern methods of construction.

“While we’ve been working hard on the planning application, it’s our intention to submit it once the joint venture is formally set up.”

The new project, which will be a Limited Liability Partnership, does not have a name yet and this is likely to be decided before it is formally created in March.