Council green-lights land purchase more than 80 affordable homes in Duston
West Northamptonshire Council has agreed to plans to buy derelict land off a developer to add 82 affordable homes to its housing portfolio.
West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) has agreed to plans to buy derelict land off a developer to add more than 80 affordable homes to its housing portfolio.
Original proposals for a £20 million housing scheme on the former car dealership and petrol station site on Harlestone Road, Duston, were submitted by developer Vistry Group in September last year.
The Council has now approved plans to take on the brownfield land from Vistry so it can deliver all 82 homes as affordable housing. This will comprise 31 homes for affordable rent, 26 homes for shared ownership and 25 homes for social rent.
Speaking at a full council meeting last Thursday (September 25), Cllr Charlie Hastie, Cabinet member for Housing, said: “The strategic importance of this obviously addresses the affordability challenges in West Northamptonshire.
“This also transforms a brownfield site into a vibrant resident area supporting local employment, we hope, and also economic development. Public engagement has shown very strong support for the scheme.”
It is anticipated that work will start on the site in early 2026, with a planned completion date achieved by summer 2027. However, the project is still subject to receiving formal planning approval from the Council.
Vistry Group has said its consultation on the plans received widespread support from the public. However, more than 70 comments have been received through the WNC planning application, with many raising concerns about a lack of infrastructure in Duston and how it will be able to accommodate so many new homes.
Vistry are offering the whole residential site as affordable units, compared to initial plans before WNC involvement, which stated that just 30 of the properties would be rented or sold as affordable homes. They own the whole site and will therefore be the sole provider of the proposal to WNC.
Cllr Vincent Clive, who was elected to represent Duston, said: “I’m keenly aware of some of the strength of feeling which has been expressed by some residents in Duston, not all positive.
“It has been my view that I would be minded to support almost any positive development of this site. As it presently stands, most of the site is derelict and adds very limited value to the community.
“I believe the site will present residents with a good standard of living and I’m pleased therefore to support this plan despite some of the misgivings in my community.”
He also made a plea for developers to include some items of play equipment for children in green space within the residential site, due to difficulties with young people accessing the nearest play park on the other side of a busy main road.
WNC will use HRA borrowing to cover any costs above the Homes England grant to the developer, with the obligation for Vistry to build out the homes and transfer them at completion. The project finances have been kept confidential and was exempt from public discussion during the meeting, however WNC says it has carried out appropriate financial checks.
Cllr Andrew Last, who is in charge of the HR and corporate services portfolio for WNC, said that the scheme would be “borrow to save” and that the authority “fully envisage that we’re going to make more money out of this investment”.
The report added that if the Council decided not to proceed with the plan, the land would likely be developed for open market housing with only a few affordable units, and the chance to use government grant funding would also be lost.
Members voted to approve the capital expenditure for the project and authorise the land acquisition from the Vistry Group.
According to the report, the scheme is due to have its planning application determined shortly.