Sage Homes and Vistry Group sign deal to deliver 120 affordable homes in Essex

Sage Homes, England’s largest provider of newly built affordable housing in 2021, and Vistry Group, a UK housebuilder and leader in partnership housing, have signed a deal to deliver 120 affordable homes for people in housing need in Coggeshall near Braintree.

The new homes, which will be a mix of shared ownership and affordable rent, form part of a scheme totalling 300 homes, which is being delivered jointly by Vistry Partnerships and Vistry Eastern.

The homes, which will include houses with gardens or maisonettes and each have their own parking space, are designed to reflect existing housing in Coggeshall with the affordable homes indistinguishable from the private housing.

36 of the new homes will be shared ownership properties that will help people get onto the local housing ladder. The remaining 84 affordable rent homes will go to people on Braintree District Council’s waiting list who have been assessed as being in housing need. Half the affordable homes will be two-bedroom houses and over 40% will be three- or four-bed houses.

The new homes will have strong sustainability credentials, with EPC energy efficiency ratings of A or B, helping residents save money when running their homes as well as reducing the development’s lifetime carbon footprint.

This latest announcement follows a deal that Sage Homes signed last year with Vistry Partnerships to deliver 120 one- to four-bed shared ownership apartments as part of the Meridian Water regeneration in Enfield.

Mark Sater, Chief Executive of Sage Homes, said:

“Vistry Group build excellent-quality new houses, and we are proud to be expanding our work with them to provide affordable homes in Coggeshall. We are committed to delivering high-quality, sustainable homes to people who need them, and this project will bring us another step closer to achieving our 30,000-home target by 2030.”

Verity MacMahon, Managing Director of Vistry Partnerships East, said:

“We are delighted to be delivering this scheme for our partner Sage Homes. It is a really good example of how we can utilise the combined strengths within our Group, with our Partnerships and housebuilding businesses working side by side to deliver the homes.”

Work is well underway on site after Vistry secured planning permission from Braintree Council earlier this year. The entire development is expected to be completed in 2024.