A ground-breaking ceremony has taken place at British Sugar’s former headquarters off Oundle Road, Peterborough, where works will begin in the near future to build 74 new affordable homes for Cross Keys Homes.

The £14million scheme, which has received grant funding from Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority, will provide 45 affordable rented and 29 shared ownership properties and is part of Cross Keys Homes’ development expansion plans for the city.

Cross Keys Homes’ Chief Executive, Claire Higgins, said: “We are very pleased to be working with Vistry Partnerships, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority and Peterborough City Council to develop this land into much needed affordable homes. Not only will this development help to accelerate the delivery of affordable homes in the city, but it will transform an important local landmark to the benefit of the wider community.”

Andy Reynolds, Managing Director of Vistry Partnerships, who are the delivery partners appointed to build these new homes, added: “This is a large development opportunity for us in Peterborough and it represents a significant contribution to the new build local housing market in the area. We want to build long term business relationships with our partners, so we are very pleased to have joined forces with Cross Keys Homes to bring forward this high-quality project which will see a full range of housing built over the next couple of years.”

CKH Director of New Business Development, Gary Norman was joined on site by CKH Executive Director of Organisational Effectiveness and HR, Allison Long and New Build Project Manager, Jose Monteiro together with Vistry Partnerships Managing Director, Andy Reynolds, their Pre-Construction Director for East Midlands, Greg Wood and their Project Manager, Richard Plowman, Peterborough City Council’s Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Housing, Culture and Communities, Councillor Steve Allen and Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority Director of Housing, Roger Thompson.

Dr Nik Johnson, Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, added: “Providing people with the opportunity to find affordable homes in Peterborough and across Cambridgeshire is what the Combined Authority was set up to do.

“Good quality homes such as these provide families with the bedrock for security and comfort to enable them to lead healthy fulfilled lives and I’m delighted that we’ve been able to provide funding to support the development of these 74 new affordable homes on the site of the former British Sugar headquarters.” 

The first of these new homes will be ready to move into from summertime next year.