Broadland Housing celebrates the start of an exciting new era today [22 June 2018], after an official ground-breaking ceremony at its new Carrow Quay development in Norwich.
The ambitious city-centre scheme will provide 323 homes – a mix of affordable rent, shared ownership and open market apartments, all with 1 or 2 bedrooms.
Gail Harris, Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Norwich City Council, Clive Lewis MP, and James Carter of RG Carter (pictured above, with Broadland’s Chief Executive Michael Newey) were among Broadland’s guests celebrating the start of construction of the first 60 affordable rent flats.
Andrew Savage, Executive Development Director, said:
“Carrow Quay is a really strategic site for Broadland. Affordable, high-quality accommodation is in short supply in the city centre, so this mixed tenure housing scheme is really needed. It’s taken us 9 years to get to this point but we’ve got a passion to get this site built”
Chris Stammers, Architectural Director at Ingleton Wood’s Norwich office, commented “we are delighted to work with Broadland Housing Group to deliver this much needed affordable housing in Norwich city centre. This modern, high-density development is the product of several years of effort all round and will provide 323 one and two bedroom homes, adding to the growing Riverside community. We’re excited to see the initial phases under construction”
Construction will be in four phases:
- Phase 1 – 60 affordable rent flats, which are being built in conjunction with Norwich City Council. These are being funded from the proceeds of Right to Buy sales from council tenants.
- Phase 2 – 89 flats, of which 55 will be open market (to be built by the Broadland St Benedict arm of the housing association) and the remaining 34 for intermediate rent.
- Phase 3 – 73 flats for affordable rent
- Phase 4 – 101 flats, a mix of affordable rent, open market and discounted market sale.
Carrow Quay is due for completion in spring 2020.
Councillor Gail Harris, deputy leader of Norwich City Council and cabinet member for social housing, said:
“This marks an important phase in the development as work on the first 60 affordable apartments gets underway.
“I’m especially proud that the city council has played an important part in helping this housing development move forward with a grant from our Right to Buy receipts.
“I very much look forward to seeing the development complete and with everyone moved into their new properties.”
Clive Lewis, MP for Norwich South (pictured below, exploring a CGI view of the finished site, said:
“I’m a passionate supporter of social housing and this new development is great news for the people of Norwich. These new affordable rent flats will not only provide much-needed homes, but also stability in people’s lives.”
Grant Keys, Regional Director at R G Carter said:
“We look forward to working in partnership with Broadland Housing to deliver high-quality housing that will serve the local community for many years to come. This development will create skilled jobs and training opportunities and we look forward to delivering a successful project.”
Broadland has overcome significant hurdles to reach this milestone. The Carrow Quay site was bought from Norwich City Football Club as two separate landholdings. Complex planning negotiations with Norwich City Council have continued over a number of years.
Broadland has also been working with the Broads Authority, to protect the natural habitats on the riverbank and ensure the future sustainability of the site.
Finally there was the possibility of an unexploded bomb buried on the site. Work was halted in early June while an unmanned bomb-detecting unit scanned the riverside. Andrew explained:
“Apparently several Second World War bombs fell in this area but were not accounted for, so we needed to check that everything was safe for work to continue.”
Carrow Quay is close to Broadland’s existing Brennan Bank property on Geoffrey Watling Way. Broadland is working in partnership with architects Ingleton Wood, Consulting Engineers Rossi Long, and builders R G Carter.
Andrew Savage concluded:
“It’s great that we’re here on site now at last. We’ve got a long way to go, but we have a cracking team – the contractors and site managers are superb.”