10/10/2024
Modern methods drive rapid progress of new homes on the North Norfolk coast
Affordable homes for 24 families are taking shape in a spectacular spot on the north Norfolk coast and are expected to be complete by May 2025.
Called West Wood, the project is being delivered by Flagship Homes and its contractors on a site next to The Reef leisure centre, off Weybourne Road in Sheringham.
Flagship Homes Senior Project Manager Peter Waplington said good progress was being made on the scheme, which got under way in April this year.
Mr Waplington said: “It’s a hive of activity at the moment. There’s a real buzz and sense of excitement around the site. We’re confident we can deliver the homes for occupation in spring 2025. This would represent a 12-month build programme on a 24-home development.
“There is a great need in Sheringham for more affordable housing, so to be able to build this for the local community is fantastic.”
Peter Waplington taking in the view of the site, and the sea beyond, from one of the new homes.
The project is moving so quickly partly because of the use of Modern Methods of Construction (MMC), which involve prefabricating components in a factory before assembly on-site. Internal wall panels built at Walker Timber Engineering in Wisbech are being used at West Wood, meaning three to four weeks’ work can be finished in a couple of days.
The project includes a mix of bungalows and one-to-four-bedroom houses which will benefit from electric vehicle charging points, solar panels and air-source heat pumps.
Eighteen of the homes are for ‘affordable rent’ meaning they will be allocated to people on the local housing register for rent at 80% of the market rate. Six will be for shared ownership – a scheme which allows people to gradually buy their home while paying rent on the remaining share.
A visualisation of how West Wood, Sheringham will look after it is completed.
The site wraps to the south and west of the new West Wood Care Home, which was separately built and managed. Views from the north-facing site take in the vintage trains of the North Norfolk Railway, the town’s golf club and the North Sea.
Flagship Homes is the development subsidiary of Flagship Group, the largest housing provider in the east of England.
Flagship Homes is a strategic partner of Homes England (HE), which provided a grant for the project. HE’s 31 strategic partners are aiming to deliver 90,000 new homes between 2021-26.
Flagship Homes Senior Project Manager Peter Waplington inside one of the homes which are being built off Weybourne Road in Sheringham.