Housing minister visits Clarion's Castle Hill scheme

Housing minister, Kit Malthouse, tours Clarion Housing Group’s Castle Hill site at Ebbsfleet Garden City.

A ministerial visit marked the completion of a major milestone at Ebbsfleet Garden City in Kent.

Housing minister, Kit Malthouse, joined Clarion and Ebbsfleet Development Corporation on 18 October for a tour of the Castle Hill site where the 1,000th Garden City home has been completed by the Group.

Clarion, the UK’s largest social landlord, plans to deliver 3,000 new homes across the Garden City, around 100 of which will be completed at the end of the year.

At Castle Hill, Clarion is delivering 425 shared ownership and affordable rented homes, the final 163 of which were approved the evening prior to the visit. Earlier in the year, the Group entered into a joint venture with Countryside to build up to 2,600 homes at Eastern Quarry. 

Minister of state for housing, Kit Malthouse MP said:

“I was delighted to meet Clarion, seeing first-hand the hundreds of affordable homes coming out of the ground at Ebbsfleet Garden City."

“This is a fantastic place to live and I want it to be a reality for thousands more Kent families, which is why I want to see even more, better, faster homes delivered for the area.”

The ideal location for first-time buyers

Austen Reid, group director of development for Clarion Housing Group said:

“Clarion is proud to be playing a leading role in shaping this new community and Ebbsfleet forms a major part of our wider plan to deliver 50,000 new homes across the country over 10 years.

“Over the next 15 years a number of former quarry sites are being transformed into around 15,000 homes. Ebbsfleet will also benefit from the creation of 30,000 new jobs as well as new schools, community facilities and shops.”

Ian Piper, chief executive of Ebbsfleet Development Corporation, said:

“There is a wide range of housing on offer in Ebbsfleet Garden City as the area now has 1,174 completed properties providing the ideal location for those looking to get on or move up the property ladder.

“In Castle Hill there are new communities forming with 507 homes already being lived in and a further 191 properties currently under construction.”