A small development of eight one- bedroom apartments, 12 two-bedroom houses, two three-bedroom houses and two fully adapted two-bedroom bungalows.

Housing Association
Trent and Dove Housing

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Partners
Homes and Communities Agency; South Derbyshire District Council; Maplevale Developments (developer)

Scheme outline
Once the ancient capital of the kingdom of Mercia and now widely renowned for its public school; Repton is a much sought after address in the beautiful South Derbyshire countryside.

Clayfields, off Milton Road, Repton, is a small development built in partnership with South Derbyshire District Council and Maplevale Developments to accommodate a unique local housing need.

Need
Repton is a very desirable location. However, the cost of homes in the area is very high which causes difficulty for people to remain or re-house in the village. This scheme developed high quality affordable homes for rent and sale providing an opportunity to meet the local housing need.

Good practice
The key to this developments success to date can largely be attributed to the commitment of Trent & Dove Housing to involving local people in the development process. From the off, Trent & Dove worked with both the local parish council and South Derbyshire District Council to make sure they addressed local people’s concerns and listened to their views.

They were overwhelmed by the positive response of the people of Repton to the proposal – they too recognise the need to ensure their village is sustainable and remains vibrant by providing affordable homes to young families.

The local community felt very strongly that these new homes should be for people with links to the area – and Trent & Dove agreed. As a result, the allocations policy stipulated that homes would only be given to people with family ties in the locality.

Funding
HCA – £784, 000
Trent & Dove – £1.6 million

“Clayfields is proof that new developments can be well designed and fit beautifully in a rural village setting – whilst providing high quality affordable as well as open market homes to meet critical levels of local need. Here we see the success of the council, developer, housing association and local residents working in partnership to provide high quality, affordable homes of mixed tenure, which will help ensure the village remains a vibrant, sustainable community for many years to come. Building the ‘Big Society’ in the countryside requires partnership and imagination, and the benefits of this are here to see at Clayfields.” Lord Matthew Taylor of Goss Moor, formerly Chair of both The Rural Coalition and National Housing Federation.

“I love my new home. It means the world to be able to live close to my family and friends in villages nearby and being on the edge of the countryside is a real bonus. To be able to walk my dog in this stunning scenery is just fantastic. It has definitely improved the quality of life for me and my boys.” Jemma Shaw, Resident.