Delivered by Vistry Group, the UK’s largest provider of multi-tenure and affordable homes, and due for completion in late 2025, this next phase of St Michael’s Hurst will provide 125 affordable homes: nine flats and 116 two, three and four bedroom houses.
Seventy-three of the affordable homes will be rented at an affordable rate to local people on the council’s housing register. The remaining 52 homes will be sold on a shared ownership basis (part-buy, part-rent) with prices starting at £95,000.
The council and Paradigm are also taking the innovative step of both providing additional subsidy to significantly reduce the rents of the four bedroom affordable rental homes. This is all part of the council’s goal of providing more homes that are truly affordable for local people.
A whole new community is being created, with the development being within easy walking distance of the recently opened Avanti Meadows primary school which includes a 26 place nursery. There is also a retirement home on the same site. There will be a large area of green space in the centre of the development which will feature a children’s playground.
Strong emphasis has been placed on sustainability, with half of the homes benefitting from solar panels. Many of the houses also incorporate switch points for EVs.
Megan Fielding, one of Paradigm’s new customers at Hazel End, said: “Simply put, I love our new home. Dealing with Paradigm has been smooth and straightforward, and they’ve been responsive to any questions I’ve had. The community here is great. I have lovely neighbours and the environment is good for the kids as well. It’s a genuine pleasure to have such a nice house to live in with safe and friendly surroundings, and I’m looking forward to settling down here for years to come.”
Councillor Mione Goldspink, East Herts Executive Member for Neighbourhoods, said: “I have been delighted to visit this new and attractive development. Many of the streets have been laid out in a courtyard style where children can play in safety, which generates a happy community feeling. There is a constant need for more high quality, affordable housing in East Herts so I am particularly pleased that the council has jointly contributed some additional funding along with Paradigm to reduce the rents of the largest and most expensive properties, making them far more affordable. I hope that we will be able to use this approach again on future developments.”
Martyn Jones, Executive Director of Development for Paradigm said: "We're really pleased to be providing yet more high quality, affordable homes for those who need it around East Herts. The quality of houses and the undeniable community that is being created here at St Michael’s Hurst is superb. With Paradigm set to bring forward a further 400 new homes across the East Herts district over the next three years, I think this is a great example of what we can achieve in partnership with developers such Vistry and the local council, and I'm looking forward to visiting our future developments together."
Verity MacMahon, Managing Director, Vistry Central Home Counties said: “This is an important milestone for our housing programme in partnership with Paradigm in East Herts, completing a range of affordable houses and apartments for local residents. At Vistry, we remain committed to our partnerships approach, ensuring we deliver the mix of housing tenures that communities need to help address the ever-growing demand for high-quality new homes.”
