The building of 23 flats for low-cost rent in the centre of Newton Abbot will ‘revitalise the town’, according to Teignbridge District Council.

Construction has officially begun on the former car park at Sherborne House.

The 13 one-bedroom and 10 two-bedroom homes are due to be completed within two years, and will be available to rent at half the market price.

At the official turf-cutting ceremony on Tuesday, July 14, Teignbridge’s Portfolio Holder for Housing, Cllr Richard Buscombe, said:

“When we started this project we didn’t want to take the place of our partner registered social landlords in the area, because we’ve done some very good work for them, but we did think there was a gap in the provision of local authority housing and social housing generally, that someone ought to to fill such as an ambitious local authority such as ourselves.”

He said “the days were long gone” when there was nothing unusual about large-scale housing developments provided by local authorities.

“But I’m reminded of the comments by our soon-to-be prime minister Andy Burnham, who wants to see a revitalisation of council house building, which I think is very encouraging.

“The people living in these apartments in 18 months’, two years’ time - the hope is that they’ll be shopping in the town centre, in Queen Street and Courtenay Street, and making that impact on the town centre that we think is so important.

“This is part of a project to revitalise Newton Abbot and get people living back in the town centre.

“These properties will be rented out at social rent, which is 50 per cent of the market rent of a particular area. We all know how expensive the market rents are.

“These units will also be designed to the Passivhaus standard, with excellent insulation and far cheaper energy bills than a lot of people have to pay these days.”

He thanked project partners Newton Abbot Town Council and former district councillor Martin Wrigley – now the local MP – “who got this scheme off the ground as the lead on housing”.

He also expressed gratitude to the government’s Homes England Affordable Homes Programme, which supported the project with a £2.7 million grant, along with £525,000 from its Brownfield Land Release Fund.

The Mayor of Newton Abbot, Cllr Louise Cook, said the development is an important part of the town’s regeneration.

She said: “This is a project for people on a lower income who will actually be able to afford to rent in Newton Abbot, where rents are really expensive now and average income is lower than the national average, and I think this will help to keep people within the town centre.

“We are, as a town council, very active, in looking at the town and seeing what it needs. I think the town council has been very proactive in supporting anything for the residents that keeps the town alive.”