123 affordable homes opened in Boston

The houses were built by Lincolnshire construction company Lindum for the Waterloo Housing Group and the scheme benefited from £750,000 from the Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership, part of its £4.2m Unlocking Rural Housing Programme funded by the Government through the Growth Deal.

At the opening ceremony Cathy Jones, housing adviser at the Greater Lincolnshire LEP, said: “I’d liike to thank Waterloo Housing Group, Boston Borough Council, the Homes and Communities Agency and Lindum Group, who built the development on time and to budget. This was all about working in partnership, which is very important.”

Councillor Michael Cooper, leader of Boston Borough Council, said: “I’d like to praise Waterloo Housing Group for the delivery of this really important housing scheme for Boston. We really do need these houses and the Greater Lincolnshire LEP has put a huge amount of money in to bring these homes forward.

“I hope the new residents enjoy living in this development – it really is a job well done.”

The money provided from the Growth Deal was used to meet the additional costs of flood mitigation requirements on the site.

“We funded this scheme because we recognise the importance of housing to the local economy and the contribution which housing makes to growth,” said David Dexter, Deputy Chair of the Greater Lincolnshire LEP.

“Despite clear evidence that additional housing is needed, developers in Greater Lincolnshire have been unable to access sufficient funding to meet the additional costs of overcoming flood risk.

“That’s why, in our very first Growth Deal which we negotiated with the government in 2014, we developed our £4.2m Unlocking Rural Housing Programme. 

“Working alongside the Homes and Communities Agency, Boston Borough Council and local partners, our programme provides part of the funding mix which enables those sites to be developed. It will be a great pleasure to see these homes completed.”

Also attending the event were Anthony Riley (Group Director of Development and Operations at Waterloo Housing Group), Simon Gregory (Managing Director of Lindum Group) and David Chambers (Chairman of Lindum Group).

Anthony Riley, Waterloo Housing Group Director of Development and Operations, said: “We are delighted to have worked with the Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership, Boston Borough Council and the Homes and Communities Agency to fund this significant new development of affordable rented and shared ownership homes in Boston, which were built by our trusted partner Lindum. 

“This development at Broadfield Lane was the largest scheme to complete in 2016/17 for Waterloo Housing Group, which completed in total over 1,000 new homes in the year across the Midlands and Lincolnshire.”

Simon Gregory, MD of Lindum Construction, said “As a local construction company we support the use of local contractors and suppliers and are proud to be a part of the team responsible for creating these much needed affordable properties and hope the residents enjoy living in their quality new homes.”

Eight other housing schemes have benefited from the LEP’s Unlocking Rural Housing Programme in Boston and East Lindsey.

To date the LEP has negotiated Growth Deal funding for Greater Lincolnshire worth £155 million.