West Northants Council could buy 47 new homes on estate to boost affordable housing
Nearly 50 new-build homes on a Northamptonshire housing estate could be bought by the council to offer as social and affordable housing, after developers failed to secure a housing provider.
A report going to the West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) cabinet next week (Tuesday, June 9) states that the authority had been approached by housebuilder Crest Nicholson with the opportunity to acquire 47 new homes, which are yet to be constructed, on the Malabar development in Daventry.
Under the current Section 106 agreement with the authority, in which developers must make contributions for the local community, 24 of the properties have been allocated as affordable homes.
The council added that the developer also approached them with the opportunity to acquire a further 17 apartments and six houses as additional affordable housing. This tranche of properties would then be eligible for grant funding from Homes England, which enables the apartments to be delivered as social rent and the houses as shared ownership.
WNC has written that council intervention is required to prevent the 24 original affordable homes from being lost and converted into market properties. It also said the affordable homes would contribute to its key priority of “delivering the homes people need and can afford”.
The council report explains that there is presently a “well-documented issue” with developers struggling to secure Registered Provider partners to take on their affordable homes.
A similar situation was proposed to the council on the Buckton Fields site in Northampton last year. WNC resolved to purchase the 36 new-build properties for social rent and temporary accommodation after arrangements with a private sector provider fell through.
There are currently 143 households on the West Northants housing register in the Daventry area. According to a breakdown of the properties, 24 would be offered as affordable rent, 17 as social rent and six as shared ownership.
The council says that acquiring the units would “increase the Council’s housing delivery pipeline through this year and next to deliver much-needed affordable housing in West Northants”.
The anticipated programme for completions is late summer 2027, with stage payments due throughout the build commencing in late summer 2026.
The amount the authority would have to pay for the homes has not been made public, however the report does state that it “will utilise already approved budgets” from the HRA Capital Programme and the Homes England Grant Funding.