Larkfleet Homes has secured government funding which will help to finance the building of 84 properties in Eye, near Peterborough.
The development has received a £680,000 grant and a £2.8 million loan from the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) as part of a government initiative, Kickstart.
The 84 properties, which will include both flats and houses, are being built on Thorney Road in Eye. After completion, 16 of the properties will be sold to Axiom Housing Association as social rented affordable homes.
39 properties will be sold through the Homebuy Direct Scheme, where buyers purchase a minimum of 70 per cent of the property and receive the remaining 30 per cent as a loan from the HCA and the developer. The remaining 29 properties will be sold privately.
Work has just begun on site and is due to be completed by the end of March 2011.
The properties to be sold privately and through the Homebuy Direct Scheme will all be built to meet the Code for Sustainable Homes Level 3 - some 25 per cent above the standard building regulations specification for energy performance. The properties sold to Axiom Housing Association will meet the Code for Sustainable Homes Level 4, highlighting Larkfleet Homes' commitment to creating affordable, well-built and energy-efficient homes.
The development will provide many employment opportunities for local people, as Larkfleet Homes aims to utilise local suppliers and employ local labour. Larkfleet Homes already runs a successful apprentice programme employing eight apprentices and plans to involve them in the construction of the new development.
Duncan Smith, strategic investment manager for Larkfleet Homes, commented: "This development will not only provide local people with employment opportunities but these homes will provide much needed new social rented properties in the area."
Terry Fuller, regional director for the East of England at the Homes and Communities Agency, said: "The Kickstart programme demonstrates how we can work in partnership with developers, social landlords and local authorities to deliver more homes and places to live in the region.
As a result of this latest Kickstart money, more people in the region will have the opportunity to live in a new home at a rent they can afford, or will be helped to take the first steps into home ownership."
Larkfleet Homes currently has two other Kickstart funded sites, one in Bourne, Lincolnshire and one in Oakham, Leicestershire. Between the three sites Larkfleet Homes is providing a total 183 new properties for sale or rent.