New council houses

The Borough Council wants to build the houses in Bader Close, off Lindbergh Road, to provide more affordable rented homes in the town. The plans were unveiled by Council chiefs, partner Orwell Housing Association and architects Chaplin Farrant.

The Council has already put in a planning application for seven council houses at two small sites in the north-west of Ipswich - in Coltsfoot Road and Whitton Church Lane. That  application will be debated by members of the Planning & Development Committee next month.

But Bader Close will see the most significant development of new council houses - there have been no council homes built in the town for 20 years and none built on this scale for half a century.

There is a shortage of homes in the town, both to rent and to buy. Building by private developers of new homes for sale has reduced drastically as a result of the state of the economy. This, together with the increasing difficulty for people to raise a deposit for a mortgage, has meant even greater demand for homes to rent.

The policy of building council houses again was agreed by the Council earlier this year. The programme will also create local construction jobs.

Caption:
From left: Wendy Evans-Hendrick (Orwell Housing), Councillor David Ellesmere (Council Leader), Joe Howarth (IBC), Councillor John Mowles (Housing portfolio-holder) and Neil Macnab (Chaplin Farrant architects)