Up to 2,000 truly affordable homes to be built on pockets of spare land on Milton Keynes estates

The company will be a wholly owned subsidiary of Milton Keynes Development Partnerhsip (MKDP), which is the business arm of MK Council formed to manage a portfolio of local land and assets,

It will be called Milton Keynes Housing Company Ltd (MKHC) and its aim to to develop pockets of land dotted about on or around housing estates.

The intention is to initially develop 19 mixed-tenure sites, which will produce up to 2,000 affordable homes. By 2031, it hopes to have built more than 4,000 affordable properties.

"This will create decent homes for essential workers and others on low incomes, including supportive provision for those often excluded by mainstream affordable housing providers,” said an MKDC spokesman.

The new company will be regulated by the Regulator of Social Housing, which will give MK Council certainty that the homes will be managed by the Independent Board of MKHC as truly affordable housing.

This will also provide protection on rents, value for money, and the standard of services delivered to MKHC’s new residents.

Many of the affordable homes will mainly be built as part of larger developments, which will include a percentage of more costly homes tor private sale of rent.

Tracey Aldworth, managing director of MKDP said: “As a landowner we can increase delivery of affordable housing above the current 31% required to gain planning consent in Milton Keynes. Our target is at 50% on larger sites to maintain a mixed and balanced community and 100% on smaller sites.

"We also intend to raise the bar in terms of quality and play a greater role with the council on delivering the placemaking agenda.”

The first 78 affordable homes are currently being planned for a parcel of land just off Timbold Drive at Kents Hill.

MKDP has exchanged contracts with Taylor Wimpey on the 17-acre site to build 171 a total of homes.

Taylor Wimpey has announced that 53 of these homes will be affordable and MKDP will purchase an additional 25 under the new housing company. This will bring the total number of affordable homes to 78.