Project locations include Prescot, Hooton, Chester and Congleton and will include 125 affordable homes and the total value of the development is £125m. Tony McDonough reports

Almost 500 new homes will be built in Prescot, Hooton, Chester and Congleton after developer Stewart Milne Homes North West secured £11.5m from Homes England.

The 500 will include 125 affordable properties and and total development value of the projects will be £125m.

Stewart Milne secured the funding via the Government’s £3bn Home Building Fund, which aims to increase the number of new homes being built across the country with a target of delivering 300,000 dwellings every year.

Two of the development projects will get under way immediately with the remainder to follow in the next two months.

Stewart Milne Homes North West is a division of Stewart Milne Group whose chief executive, Glenn Allison, believes the fund is a major step forward in addressing the country’s long-term housing challenge.

He said: “Private, independent developers cannot make the up-front investment required to close the gap between supply and demand quickly enough. 

“This funding will ensure we are able to deliver out-standing new communities for local residents and help deliver the additional housing that is required to meet the UK Governments targets.”

Stewart Milne Homes North West, established in 2006, has doubled the number of units delivered in the North West in the last 12 months and increased its direct workforce in the region from 65 to 85.

Nigel Barclay, head of SME investment at Homes England, added: “Stewart Milne Homes are showing real ambition with their plans to build another 500 new homes across the North West including 125 affordable homes across a mix of tenures which will help make a real difference to local people.”