Housing Minister Gavin Barwell has opened a new 'affordable' housing development in Gillingham.

A total of 32 bungalows for social rent have been built on the former site of Gillingham Community College, as part of an £8.5 million housing development project.

The scheme, which has been designed with older tenants and people with mobility problems, is one of the largest council-built, energy efficient bungalow sites in the UK.

The project was one of three visited by the Minister during a tour of Medway on Thursday, 16 February.

The Minister also visited a new housing development at Kitchener Barracks, one of the largest new developments of carbon-zero homes in the country, which has been awarded £14.4m from the Homes and Communities Agency through the Home Building Fund to boost construction on the site.


SME housebuilder Latis is delivering nearly 300 new homes as part of a flagship gated eco-community on public sector land formerly owned by the Ministry of Defence. The site will comprise of 94 new build homes and 101 new build apartments, as well as 72 conversion flats in the historic barracks building at the centre of the site.

In addition, the Minister visited the Port of Tilbury in Essex to discuss future plans for growth in the Thames Gateway area. Tilbury's £1 billion investment programme will see the development of the largest warehouse in the UK for Amazon UK, a new 40MW energy-from waste power station and the creation of a new 152-acre deep-water port facility.

Speaking after his trip, Minister Barwell said: "It has been a great opportunity to visit 3 exciting developments across the South East of England today, showcasing the range and diversity of our housing ambitions as set out in our housing white paper.

"From seeing a better choice of accommodation for older people in Gillingham, to the re-development of public sector land in Chatham by an ambitious SME housebuilder, and witnessing the expansion of infrastructure in Tilbury.

"All of these sites reflect the key priorities for this government and these developers are leading the way in efforts to fix our broken housing market and ensure this is a country that works for everyone."

(LM/MH)