Broadland Housing Association

Homes, community & support since 1963

    • Norfolk

    Edgefield residents share feedback on their new homes with architects and designers

    We recently invited residents at our Edgefield development to meet the architects and designers who created their new homes. It was an opportunity for them to give feedback to improve future developments.

    The mixed-tenure scheme at Edgefield, Norfolk, is on the north side of the village. It contains 12 affordable homes and 10 open-market homes.

    Resident feedback will shape future developments

    At the evening event, residents enjoyed pizza on the open green space which forms part of the Edgefield scheme. They talked directly to the architects, designers, specifiers and project managers who were responsible for their new homes. The residents’ valuable insight will feed into future Broadland projects.

    We weren’t able to hold a traditional launch event for this site due to the Covid pandemic. So a few months on, we decided instead to take advantage of the fact that people have been living in their new homes for a while to gain some feedback about how the on-paper designs have translated into their real-life experience.

    It was a hugely useful exercise, as well as bringing the new community together socially.  This kind of mixed-tenure scheme is increasingly how we are able to deliver affordable homes, especially in rural locations such as north Norfolk

    Executive Development Director Andrew Savage (pictured centre)

    Mixed-tenure scheme

    Nine of the new homes at Edgefield are affordable rent properties for local people. A further 3 are shared-ownership homes.  The remaining 10 homes were sold on the open market to help fund Broadland’s programme of building social housing in the Norfolk and north Suffolk

    Talk reveals the fascinating history of The Orchards, Aylsham

    Talk reveals the fascinating history of The Orchards, Aylsham

    • External view of Broadland Housing Association property:The Orchards, Aylsham, Norfolk
    • Maggie Vaughan and Dr Roger Polhill of the Aylsham Town Archive

    Broadland Housing tenants at The Orchards on Norwich Road learned the fascinating history of their home at an exclusive event at Aylsham Town Hall recently.

    After the illustrated talk by the Aylsham Town Archive, tenants enjoyed a cream tea.

    Archivists and historians Dr Roger Polhill and Maggie Vaughan-Lewis (pictured above) had trawled local archives at the town hall and Aylsham Heritage Centre for the story of the mock Tudor building. The Orchards was built in 1848 by William Repton, principal solicitor in the town, and son of the renowned landscape designer Humphry Repton.

    “It has soul as well as history…”

    Tenant Paul Gibson, who moved to The Orchards in July, said:

    What a fantastic insight into our home. It’s so interesting to hear its history, I will look on it with a new eye now.

    The Orchards is a wonderful place to live. It has got all sorts of nooks and crannies. It has soul as well as history, as well as spectacular gardens.  I keep waiting for some Victorian ghost to come wafting up!

    Mary, another tenant, who has lived at The Orchards for a year, echoed Paul’s thoughts:

    I have lived in Aylsham for 8 years, and always used to walk past The Orchards. I didn’t know any of the history, but I always thought it would be my dream home.

    It’s like living in Blickling Hall, with its baronial entrance hall.  It’s everything I dreamed of an more – it’s my miracle flat!

    Thanking Dr Polhill and Mrs Vaughan-Lewis for their presentation, Paula Strachan, Communication and Tenant Participation Manager, said:

    Many residents at the Orchards know snippets about the history of the building, but it has been really interesting to hear a well-researched and authentic history from its construction right to the present day.

    The story of The Orchards

    (information provided by Dr Roger Polhill and Maggie Vaughan-Lewis of Aylsham Town Archive)

    The Orchards was built by William Repton in 1848 for his illegitimate daughter Eleanor (later Helen) Panton, who had married his partner in the law business William Scott in 1840.  Repton, who lived on the Market Place, had bought two acres of a former nursery in 1828 and used it as an orchard (hence the name of the house).

    It was designed by William’s elder brother John Adey Repton, an associate of famous architect George Gilbert Scott, in neo-Tudor style.  William Repton commissioned builder and carpenter Robert Bartram, based in Millgate, to build the house, insisting that work continued in three eight-hour shifts, 24 hours a day.

    On William Repton’s death in 1858, William Scott was the main beneficiary, and ten years later they moved into the Old Bank House and sold The Orchards.  The 1868 sale catalogue describes a 23’x16’ dining room, two drawing rooms, a breakfast room, smoking room and gun room, as well as nine bedrooms and three upper storey drawing rooms, and extensive grounds.

    Below stairs were domestic offices, a butler’s pantry, store room, glass closet, kitchens and wine and ale cellars, and there were four attic bedrooms for domestics.

    The property was bought by the Wright family, who let the house to a succession of tenants, including Justice of the Peace and brewer Charles Morse, who entertained the Duke of Connaught – third son of Queen Victoria – to lunch in the house.

    In 1927 The Orchards was bought by World War One hero Captain James Sears, remembered for the Ian Sears Clinic he built at the bottom of the garden, which was a Child Welfare Centre.  Sears subsequently became involved in Labour politics, and eventually sold the house to the Aylsham and District Labour Party to be used as a hostel.

    It was later bought by John Baden (J.B.) Postle, who converted it into a number of flats.  His daughter Ann inherited the house in 1963, but by 1990 it was falling into disrepair, and when it was listed in 1995, Broadland District Council advised her that it would take £50,000 to bring it up to Grade II listed standard.  It was put up for sale in 1997, but by 2001 it was reported as being derelict with evidence of squatters, and in June that year a fire damaged the property.

    Broadland Housing Association took on the property in 2002, converting the main house into 8 flats, and building a sympathetically-designed new building also containing 8 flats.

    Broadland project wins national planning award

    Our affordable housing strategy in north Norfolk has won a Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) 2021 Award for Planning Excellence.

    The strategy was the winner in the Excellence in Planning to Deliver Homes – small schemes category. It is also a finalist in the 2021 Inside Housing development awards.

    • Broadland Housing scheme at Binham, Norfolk
    • Broadland Housing scheme at Binham, north Norfolk

    Broadland’s North Norfolk District-Wide Affordable Homes Strategy used changes in national planning policy to link five mixed-tenure schemes (Binham, Trunch, Erpingham, Edgefield and Great Ryburgh) in one  Section 106 Agreement.  Market homes sales subsidised the delivery of 61 affordable homes in an area with a chronic affordable housing shortage.  

    The Broadland scheme designs complement the local rural landscape and use authentic building materials.  The quality of the planning has helped to build inclusive, sustainable communities, with no visible difference between the social rent and open market homes, reducing the stigma often associated with affordable housing. 

    Andrew Savage, Executive Development Director, said: 

    We are delighted to have been part of this RTPI award.  Our development team and external partners work tirelessly to continue the supply of affordable housing in Norfolk and north Suffolk. It’s fantastic to get national recognition for delivering a very local solution.

    Benefits for rural communities

    The RTPI Awards are the most established and respected awards in the UK planning industry.  Running for over 40 years, they celebrate exceptional examples of planning and the contribution planners make to society. 

    Broadland worked closely with partners North Norfolk District Council, Bidwell’s, Ingleton Wood, Hudson’s, Rossi Long, RG Carter, Wellington Construction and H Smith Honingham to achieve the strategy.  The project is also a finalist in the 2021 Inside Housing awards.  Previously it was the RTPI Eastern region winner.  

    Iain Hill, partner at Bidwell’s, said:

    It’s a fantastic result for Broadland Housing, and we’re glad to be part of the project team.  It’s great that a scheme in north Norfolk has gained recognition nationwide – particularly one which highlights the benefits that can delivered for rural communities when all parties have a shared vision and adopt a collaborative approach. 

    Paul Pitcher, Managing Director at Wellington Construction, said: 

    We are delighted to have been part of the award-winning partnership which has provided so many high quality, much-needed affordable homes across North Norfolk.  As a locally-based firm, we take great pride in building top quality affordable homes in the region.  Not only does it provide much-needed homes for local people, but it creates local employment as well. 

    Jonathan Smith, director at H Smith Honingham, said: 

    Huge congratulations to Broadland for winning the Royal Town Planning Institute 2021 Award for Planning Excellence.  Our experience of Broadband tells us they always look at the bigger picture and work with partners to establish long term relationships and we are pleased that this approach has been recognised at the National RTPI Awards with well-deserved recognition of their can-do attitude.

    Chris Stammers, architect and director at Ingleton Wood, said: 

    We are thrilled to be part of this excellent and award-winning collaboration – nationally recognised for breaking the mould to deliver high-quality rural affordable homes across north Norfolk.  We worked together with local communities and the wider project team as part of a positive design and consultation process to maximise the provision of affordable homes in areas that desperately need them. 

    ‘Positive and impactful changes‘

    RTPI president Wei Yang FRTPI said:

    I would like to congratulate all of the winners at this year’s RTPI Awards for Planning Excellence who have demonstrated how planning is an essential public service for our community.  The winners have acted beyond boundaries to make positive and impactful changes – a perfect way of showing the world the positive role planners play in our society. 

    The fact the even during the pandemic we received so many entries is a testament to how the planning profession across the UK and around the world has stepped up to deliver innovative, place-based solutions to the challenges of health and wellbeing, climate change and the biodiversity decline, as well as housing and economic growth.

    Dyan Currie HonMRTPI, chief planner of Brisbane City Council and chair of the judging panel, said:

    With the world facing significant complex challenges, planning has become more important than ever before.  The quality of entries in this year’s awards was outstanding and the judges remain confident of the future of the profession during these challenging times. 

    About the RTPI

    The Royal Town Planning Institute champions the power of planning in creating prosperous places and vibrant communities.

    Using its expertise and research it brings evidence and thought leadership to shape planning policies and thinking, putting the profession at the heart of society’s big debates. 

    It sets the standards of planning education and professional behaviour that give planners, wherever they work in the world, a unique ability to meet complex economic, social and environmental challenges. 

    It is the only body in the UK that confers Chartered status to planners, the highest professional qualification sought after by employers in both private and public sectors.

    Samantha England

    Samantha England works as a management consultant. She has many years in leadership and management and has a passion for learning and development.

    Samantha is Chair of the Ethics Committee and Chair of the IAG (Independent Advisory Group) for Norfolk Constabulary.

    She is involved in many community projects and recently set up a community group which won South Norfolk community group of the year. Other voluntary commitments include being a trustee for a local youth club, school governor and trustee for the Multiple Sclerosis Therapy Centre Norfolk.

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