Construction starts on new social housing

Construction work has started on housing for Swale’s in-need families, as part of Swale Borough Council’s continued regeneration of the Sittingbourne Town Centre.

A first spade in the ground at a groundbreaking event marked the start of the works on 51 new high-quality affordable homes, on a former car park in Cockleshell Walk.

Cockleshell Walk will be the first new social housing directly delivered by Swale Borough Council since the 1990s.

All the homes will be classed as Social Rented homes meaning the rent will be around half of the cost of similar privately rented apartments in the area.

The low rental income meant the £6.4m funding the council secured from Home England’s Affordable Homes Programme fund was critical to make sure the scheme could proceed.

This development will provide homes for Swale’s priority households on the housing register, create a more attractive gateway into the High Street and contribute towards the annual housing targets the Government has set for the borough.

The design has been meticulously planned to not only reflect but enhance the distinct architectural and historic character of Sittingbourne.

This includes brickwork which is a nod to the area’s brick manufacturing heritage, with recessed windows, herringbone patterned panels and arches helping the new buildings blend seamlessly into their surroundings.

The landscaping, including planting, will significantly improve St Michael’s Road, while providing a biodiversity net gain of 117%, well over the 10% requirement.

The energy efficient buildings will include modern building techniques, reducing the amount of energy needed to light and heat the homes, saving residents’ money, and reducing the impact on the environment.

There will also be 28 parking spaces available for residents and 52 cycle spaces across two secure storage spaces, helping to promote active travel within Swale.

Planning permission for the scheme (23/503228/FULL) was granted in 2025, and the council appointed Regiis as their development partner who also helped host the event.

Cllr Hannah Perkin, chair of the council’s Housing, Health and Communities committee, said:

“These new homes will help us provide much-needed housing for the local residents on our housing register and are so important because the demand in Swale far outweighs the homes that are becoming available each year.

“When efforts to secure a housing association partner were unsuccessful, we took the decision to lead the development ourselves rather than allow an important town-centre site and 51 much-needed homes remain undelivered.

“Leading the development has meant we can bring forward a project that provides high quality affordable housing, boosts our biodiversity and is designed in a way that adds to the character and heritage of the area.

“It was amazing to be able to put the first spade in the ground for this project after all the hard work that officers, members and partners have had to put into the project since it began back in 2019 to get to this stage, and now we can’t wait to see our high-quality designs come to life.

“The scheme demonstrates our commitment to investing in our town centres and using development to create wider social, environmental and economic value for the local community.

“We know this development will help so many families in Swale, while also helping us continue our efforts to regenerate Sittingbourne’s Town Centre.”

Neill Tickle, Managing Director of Counties & Capital Group, the council’s Project Director and Development Manager for the scheme, said:

“Cockleshell Walk is an excellent example of a council showing real leadership. When others were unable to take the scheme forward, Swale Borough Council made a clear decision to step in and deliver these homes directly.

“Counties & Capital Group is proud to be working alongside the council, Regiis and the wider project team to turn that commitment into 51 high-quality social rented homes.

“This is about much more than constructing a new building: it is about providing secure and genuinely affordable homes, regenerating an important part of Sittingbourne and ensuring the investment creates lasting value for the wider community.”

Ryan Newberry, Managing Director of Regiis Holdings Ltd, said:

“Regiis is committed to delivering meaningful social value throughout the construction of the Cockleshell Walk development.

“Our site team includes locally employed staff from Sittingbourne and West Malling, and we continue to prioritise Kent-based subcontractors wherever possible, including for recently tendered groundworks, scaffolding and brickwork packages.

“We are currently assisting the design team to make sure the buildings pay homage to the local history by ensuring the naming of them adds value from Sittingbourne’s heritage.”

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