05 Aug 2026
During this year’s Rural Housing Week (6-10 July), Hastoe Housing Association joined the National Housing Federation (NHF) and other rural housing associations in shining a spotlight on the social and economic benefits affordable housing brings to rural communities.
Hastoe particularly emphasised the critical importance of Section 106 properties as one of the most important ways rural housing associations deliver affordable housing in rural communities. This was timed to coincide with a warning from the NHF that an estimated 32,000 new affordable homes* and half of all new affordable homes in rural areas** could be lost if proposed changes to the National Planning Policy Framework are brought into effect. The proposals seek to remove the existing requirement for new medium development sites (between 10 and 49 homes) to deliver affordable housing on site.
To mark the occasion, Hastoe took a small delegation of development partners and colleagues from Colchester City Council to visit eight new Section 106 homes it is purchasing, which are currently under construction in Braiswick, a village in Colchester. The whole scheme of 27 new homes is being developed by Arbora Homes and built to an exceptionally high standard by Marfleet and Bradshaw, alongside employer’s agent Potter Raper.
Chris Meadows, Hastoe Development Director, says: “In the last decade, Hastoe has developed 211 homes via Section 106 schemes; if we removed medium-sized sites (schemes of 10-49 homes) from those figures, we would only have delivered 86 Section 106 homes in the same period – a significant 59% reduction.
“That’s why, in Rural Housing Week 2026, we shone a spotlight on the importance of Section 106 as a way of delivering vitally needed homes in rural areas. The shortage of affordable homes is already much more acute in rural areas than urban ones, and families are often priced out of their own communities. We know the devastating impact this lack of homes can have on those communities, both economically and socially. Section 106 homes such as the ones we are purchasing in Braiswick are therefore often a lifeline for local people.”
The eight Section 106 homes in Braiswick comprise 2 two-bed homes, 2 three-bed homes and 2 four-bed homes for Affordable Rent, plus 2 three-bed homes for shared ownership. The houses are full of character, including concrete sills and brick paved roads. Each property has two parking spaces and is within walking distance to the closest station. The homes are due to be completed in September.
*Based on 10,000 affordable homes delivered on medium sites between 2022/3 and 2024/5, projected over the next 10 years
**Based on S106 delivering more than 50% of rural affordable homes last year and vast majority of rural affordable developments having fewer than 50 homes.
Find out more at www.hastoe.com/braiswick and www.hastoe.com/building-homes
Photos:
- Hastoe’s new homes at Braiswick
- Representatives from Hastoe, Marfleet and Bradshaw, Potter Raper and Colchester City Council celebrate the new homes
- Hearing about the new homes from Ulrike Maccariello, Hastoe
