This Rural Housing Week, Hastoe Homes took a delegation of development partners and colleagues from Colchester City Council to visit eight new Section 106 homes under construction at Braiswick Road, Colchester.
Potter Raper is acting as Employer’s Agent on the scheme, working alongside contractor Marfleet & Bradshaw as the development approaches completion.
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A milestone visit during Rural Housing Week
Rural Housing Week, held from 6th to 10th July, sees the National Housing Federation and rural housing associations across the country highlight the social and economic benefits that affordable housing brings to rural communities. Hastoe used the occasion to showcase its Section 106 properties at Braiswick, one of the ways rural housing associations deliver affordable homes in areas where supply is often scarce.
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Delivering homes for rural communities
The scheme will deliver eight new homes: six for Affordable Rent and two for shared ownership, ranging from two to four-bedroom houses. Interim payments have moved to a monthly cycle now that golden brick has been certified, reflecting the close financial oversight Potter Raper provides on schemes of this size.
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Progress on site
Power and water connections are now live on site, with service connections at the top of the road complete and the pumping station connected, though not yet commissioned. Marfleet & Bradshaw remain on track for completion of all plots by the end of August 2026, with a provisional handover date of 1 September agreed. Snagging is provisionally booked in for early August, with the residents’ handbook, as-built drawings and health and safety file being finalised ahead of Hastoe’s supervised resident visits in the closing weeks of the programme. Close coordination between Potter Raper, Marfleet & Bradshaw and Hastoe Homes has helped keep this rural development firmly on track.
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Coverage in the local and trade press
The visit has since been picked up by both regional and trade media, with the Gazette and LABM Weekly both reporting on the scheme. Colchester City Council’s cabinet member for housing, Cllr Rhys Smithson, described the homes as reflecting the council’s ongoing commitment to affordable housing delivery, while Hastoe’s development director Chris Meadows spoke of the particular importance of Section 106 homes in addressing rural housing need. Potter Raper is named in both pieces as Employer’s Agent on the scheme.
To find out more about our Employer’s Agent services here or get in touch at info@potterraper.co.uk.
