Taylor Wimpey's workers are back on site this week at the Kings Reach development in Kings Lynn, Norfolk.

The final phase of the development which had stalled since November 2007 is back on track after the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) agreed £533,000 of Gap Funding through Kickstart.

Planning permission for the final phase of the development was granted in November 2007, but because of the difficult economic climate and housing market conditions works had not been able to commence.

Kickstart is a £1 billion programme run nationally by the HCA, the housing and regeneration agency for England, and is designed to help unlock stalled housing schemes across the country.


Nearly £360 million was allocated under Round 1 of the Kickstart Programme to unlock over 10,000 new homes across 136 schemes, including 188 homes in the East of England.

The 1-4 bedroom houses and apartments for phase 3 at Kings Reach are a mixture of 105 open market houses provided by Taylor Wimpey and 45 social rented properties provided by Wherry Housing. This final phase will complete the development of 500 homes, which provides much-needed accommodation for local people.

Bryn Maidman, Managing Director of Taylor Wimpey East Anglia said: "We're delighted that Kickstart funding is being made available in Kings Lynn, enabling us to continue to create more homes for local people.

"It ensures that we can fulfill our commitment to offering properties at affordable prices, which is reflected in our range of starter homes at Kings Reach, priced from just £59,469 under the popular HomeBuy Direct Scheme."

Work has begun on Kickstart Round 2. Under Round 2, 265 bids for funding, totalling £550 million, have been shortlisted and will now undergo a thorough due diligence assessment before final funding decisions are made. Of these, 42 are shortlisted in the East of England region.

(CD/GK)