Swaythling Continues Award Success
4th September 2009
Swaythling Housing won the Best Large Development award at the Affordable Home Ownership Awards held on Thursday 3rd September. The prestigious national awards ceremony was held at the Victoria Park Plaza Hotel, in London and hosted by property developer and presenter of Channel 4’s ‘Property Ladder’, Sarah Beeny.
Swaythling, last year’s ‘Affordable Home Ownership Provider of the Year’, has been rewarded for its ongoing success in 2009 by winning the award for the Archers Gate scheme in Amesbury, Wiltshire. The judging panel said “In Archers Gate, Swaythling has created a good size scheme with an excellent tenure mix and very good community facilities. An all round excellent application”
The scheme of 500 new homes has 125 available as affordable housing, dispersed throughout settlement to ensure truly mixed tenure. The average affordable house price is less than half of the average market price for Salisbury.
A new Infant & Junior school was built in the heart of the development and is fully subscribed. The thriving Bowman Community Centre opened in 2008 and provides a focal point for the community with a wide range of organised events and activities and has already proved a valuable asset and central to community spirit.
The archaeological and historical significance of the area is reflected in the build, the variety and individuality of design throughout the scheme. The provision of footpaths and cycle paths throughout the residential layout ensure that all areas are within a short walk of the local centre and school.
First time buyers, Kim and Steven, were offered a 2 bedroom mid-terraced house on the Archers Gate scheme and were amazed at the size of the property. They bought a 50% share in the house with a mortgage of £86,000. Their combined monthly mortgage and rent payments come to just over £770 per month. They say of their new home “we love it – it’s fantastic!”
Ralph Facey, Director of Swaythling said: “We are delighted that our approach to developing thriving communities in which people can flourish has been recognised."
Swaythling is part of Radian, a sector leader in sustainable development with an enviable track record in sustainable projects and has pro-actively piloted many environmental innovations over recent years.
Dr Caroline Lucas MEP, Leader of the Green Party, declared “Radian is at the forefront of the sustainable movement and all the awards they have deservedly won demonstrate that. They are putting sustainability into practice, not just talking about it; and they are doing it in an inclusive way.”
