HARLOW Council has announced that the 172-apartment Burnt Mills development is now available for letting for Harlow residents. Harlow Council successfully purchased the development back in March in a move to secure more homes for Harlow residents.

Last December the development was subject to wide media reporting when Newham Council were close to buying the flagship scheme, but the Harlow Council acted at pace to stop Newham Council buying the block to ensure all 172 apartments would be available for Harlow residents instead.

52 of the apartments will be let on an affordable rent which will be capped at Local Housing Allowance rate (£810 for a one bedroom and £1,025 for a two bedroom). This means that any resident on the Housing Needs Register who may not otherwise be able to afford to rent an apartment, would be able to access Housing Benefit to do so. These apartments will be available through the council’s Harlow Homefinder website shortly.

The remaining 120 apartments will be let on market rents and all 120 are now available for local people. These high-quality apartments are available for viewing on rightmove. The mix of affordable and market rents is based on a prudent financial model which makes the purchase financially viable and will ensure that the council’s repayment plans for the development are met. If there were to be more affordable rentals within the development, it would not be financially viable, and the council would not have been able to buy the block.

The council has appointed Place by Pinnacle to manage the homes on its behalf. As part of the contract with Pinnacle the privately rented homes can only be let to individuals meaning no other councils, registered housing providers, or landlords can rent them, and the homes cannot be sub-let or purchased. This ensures that all homes remain available for local people.

The development includes ground floor commercial space, 150 cycle racks and 142 residents parking spaces – 23 of which have electric vehicle charging points – and communal roof gardens.

Councillor Dan Swords, Leader of Harlow Council, has welcomed that the first residents of the tower will move in shortly: 

“This time last year, Newham Council were set to buy this brand-new flagship development. I said that Harlow Council would do everything possible to stop that and we did. We have been working around the clock to make all 172 apartments available for Harlow residents and last week, we achieved that.

“We have made as many apartments as is financially possible available on an affordable rent and that is truly affordable – we have capped those rents at Local Housing Allowance rate meaning that any Harlow resident on the Housing Needs Register who could not otherwise afford to rent a property would be able to access Housing Benefit to cover the rent.

“This is a flagship development, and I am proud that Harlow Council not only moved at pace to stop Newham Council, but now to make each and every apartment available for Harlow residents.”