Kentish Express Ashford & District
£300k housing scheme for former college grounds
Developers have signed a contract to build hundreds of homes on the site of the current Ashford College in Jemmett Road.
The existing K College buildings will be bulldozed to make way for the mixed development in the £30 million scheme, which was granted planning permission earlier this month.
Talks to move the college first started in 2008, and in 2011 the council first granted full permission for over 150 homes in September 2011.
Now the Orbit housing association and construction firm Chartway group exchanged contracts with college operator West Kent and Ashford College, which will be opening its doors to students at the new town centre campus in September next year.
The association will create 158 new homes including 25 on offer for rent, 50 on offer for shared ownership on a part-rent and part-buy basis, and 53 homes for sale.
Chartway will add a further 30 homes from its residential brand Westerhill Homes.
Orbit’s head of development Maggie McCann said: “We hope to meet different housing needs and aspirations and provide an inclusive community that people are proud to live in.
“We are committed to tackling the housing crisis. This joint initiative with Chartway Group will help us to deliver our target of building 12,000 new homes by 2020.”
Chartway group’s project director Tim McLoughlin said: “At the core of everything we do is delivering quality homes with signature design, and providing much needed housing for the community.”
The new homes may also boast a children’s playground and a small park, along with two junctions entering Jemmett Road. Building work is expected to start in the summer next year.