News stories from 2008.

Larkfleet Group helps homeless with christmas donation 24th December 2008

The Larkfleet Group has given some Christmas cheer to homeless people in Peterborough by donating food and gifts to a hostel.

Hope House in Fletton is a hostel for homeless single people and families which is run by housing association Cross Keys Homes. It accommodates people referred to the hostel by Peterborough City Council’s homeless section, all of whom having a priority housing need and are classified as vulnerable.

Helen Hick, wife of Larkfleet managing director Karl Hick, said: “Times may be tough in the house building market but the people at Hope House are the real victims of the housing crisis. It must be particularly distressing to be without a home over Christmas and I was pleased to be able to do a little to make the festive season more cheerful for residents at the hostel.”

Hope House has a team of three managers and five support workers who prepare individual support plans for residents and provide round-the-clock assistance as well as organising the day to day running of the hostel.

Each resident has their needs assessed when they move in and Hope House offers life and social skills training for those that need it, introduces them to other agencies if required and refers them for ongoing support when they move on to permanent accommodation where necessary.

Mick Leggett, chief executive of Cross Keys Homes, said: “The residents need help as they have suffered stressful situations culminating in possibly the worst crisis one can experience, losing their home. Money is invariably scarce and therefore any support at Christmas time is very gratefully accepted.

“We also hold a Christmas party at the hostel each year and toys are donated by Step One, a local city charity, which are given to residents’ children.

“Homelessness at any time is a terrible life event. I would like to thank Helen, Karl and Larkfleet Homes for their generosity in giving these gifts at Christmas. They have brought a smile to everyone’s face.”

Win a £250,000 Christmas Prize 23rd December 2008

As the credit crunch hits, Bourne Larkfleet Homes is offering the chance to win a house package worth up to £250,000.

Larklfeet Homes has launched the competition with a top prize worth £250,000 which will include a house with furnishings and a brand new eco friendly Corsa Active car, which is being supplied by Sycamores of Stamford. Sycamores is also offering any potential Larkfleet Homes buyers £200 off any new or second hand car purchased through its Stamford branch.

The prize is perfect for everyone from first time buyers to seasoned buyers and gives entrants a chance to win a home with some furnishings and an eco friendly car with low running costs. The competition involves choosing the six most important features of a Larkfleet Home from a list and one lucky person with the correct answers will win this extraordinary prize.

Karl Hick, managing director of Larkfleet Homes, said: “In this current economic climate many buyers are unable to purchase a home either for the first time or when they need to move up. We hope this competition will be a huge success with local people and look forward to welcoming the winners to their new home.”

Local people can enter the competition by collecting a competition entry form at any Larkfleet development. Current developments are taking place at Lincoln, Eye, Bourne and Oakham.

Larkfleet boss seeks meeting with Housing Minister 27th November 2008

The managing director of one of the region’s most successful building companies, who earlier this year wrote to Prime Minster Gordon Brown appealing for action to prevent a complete halt to house building in this area, is seeking a meeting with Housing Minister Margaret Beckett.

Karl Hick, head Larkfleet Group, wants to discuss issues including the impact of the ‘credit crunch’ with Mrs Beckett who was last month (October 2008) appointed by Gordon Brown as Minister of State for Housing in the Department for Communities and Local Government.

Just weeks into her new role she was due to meet industry leaders in London this month (November 2008) after Mr Hick wrote to follow up some of the concerns he raised with the Prime Minister. However, pressure of Parliamentary business meant she was forced to pull out of the meeting at the last minute.

Mr Hick said: “Mrs Beckett clearly has many demands on her time. It is disappointing that we were not able to meet this month but I hope we can do so soon. I think the house building industry has a number of important issues to raise with the government.”

Mr Hick has written to Mrs Beckett to outline some of these issues, including the impact which the financial crisis is having on funding for ‘affordable homes’ – homes built by housing associations for people who cannot afford to buy a house, even at today’s lower prices. Many of these homes are financed partly with money from the government’s Housing Corporation, with the housing association often seeking to borrow the rest of cash from banks.

Mr Hick said: “Many of these vitally important housing schemes are being held up because the banks are not approving the necessary loans – or certainly not approving them swiftly enough – despite the fact that there is very little risk because much of the money is coming from the Housing Corporation.

“Most of the major banks in this market are ones in which the government has now taken a large shareholding. I would like the government to use the influence it should now have to get the banks to honour their promises to lend at similar levels to last year.

“This would release funding to provide housing for some of the most vulnerable people in society. At the same time it would provide a core of work for builders such as Larkfleet at a time when the open market for new housing has virtually collapsed.”

Mr Hick also wants the government to put pressure on the banks to provide mortgages for ‘equity share’ schemes being promoted by housing associations. These schemes allow people to buy a proportion of a new home and rent the rest from the housing association.

Mr Hick praised the moves the government has made to help the open market for homes, including schemes such as MyChoiceHomeBuy under which some people have received up to half the price of the home from the government. The mortgage is paid off in the usual way with a small monthly fee payable on the MyChoiceHomeBuy share. However, funding has temporarily ceased until spring 2009.

Mr Hick said: “The scheme has made new homes affordable for many more people in the area. At a time when house prices are lower than they have been for some time, paying perhaps as little as half the price makes it a great bargain.

“Unfortunately, though, the scheme has had major problems. There is far too much paperwork and the processing of applications is far too slow. Often, by the time people who want to buy a house find out if the government will put up cash under MyChoiceHomeBuy, their mortgage offer has expired and they have to start the whole process over again.

“We were among the first builders to get involved in MyChoiceHomeBuy, back in June, and we have yet to complete a single sale under the scheme.”

In his letter, Mr Hick also drew Mrs Beckett’s attention to other specific problems facing the industry such as the fact that, as part of the government’s plan to cut carbon emissions, new homes have to be built to increasingly tough standards. These standards are adding thousands of pounds to the cost of homes, making delivery almost impossible without substantial government funding. The problem is made worse by the fact that this increasing regulation and cost is coming into the market at just the wrong time of the economic cycle.

He also expressed concern about recent changes to the way in which commercial rates are charged on buildings. He says this is making forward planning of developments very difficult and is having a profound effect on the development of local economies – which will ultimately affect jobs.

Mr Hick hopes that Mrs Beckett will try to tackle some of these issues. He said: “I hope she will shake things up a bit in government. We need action swiftly if the house building industry is not to collapse totally.

Larkfleet Group raises £5,500 for charity 11th November 2008

Staff and guests of Larkfleet Group raised more than £5,500 for charity at a black-tie dinner and dance held in Peterborough’s Marriot Hotel.

Cash was raised through the sale of tickets for the event, an auction of items ranging from a holiday to football memorabilia, and a tombola and raffle with a wide range of prizes.

The money is going to the Willow Foundation, a charity which offers ‘special days’ for 16 to 40 year olds with terminal or life-threatening illnesses. The special days – which can be anything from a just a quiet holiday to experiences such as balloon flights and car racing – aim to help these young adults escape the pressures of their daily routine and share quality time with family or friends.

Former Arsenal and Scotland goalkeeper Bob Wilson and his wife Megs founded the Willow Foundation in 1999 in memory of their daughter Anna who died of cancer aged 31. The charity's name, Willow, stems from Anna's nickname and its aim is to replicate the positive impact special days had on both Anna and her family during her treatment.

Bob Wilson was guest of honour at the Larkfleet dinner and gave a talk on the work of the Willow Foundation as well as helping to auction some limited edition prints of paintings signed by famous footballers and football managers.

Bob Wilson himself is one of the sport’s best-known personalities. He made more than 300 appearances for Arsenal between 1963 and 1974 and two appearances for Scotland, the first Englishman since 1873 to do so. After retiring as a player, he turned to coaching and broadcasting, presenting football programmes weekly on television for 28 years until 2002.

He told guests at the dinner: “My daughter Anna was diagnosed as having the very rare form of cancer, malignant schwannoma, at the age of 26. Over the next five years she was to have 16 major operations, numerous treatments and therapies. Yet it was during these years that Anna, her family and friends experienced some of their most memorable moments and quality times together.

“When Anna had something to look forward to, her pain was reduced, her spirits lifted and she would feel better. Treats, days out, concerts, shopping trips and just being with friends – simple distractions from her illness – gave Anna the determination and adrenalin to fight on. She wanted quality of life, quality of time and most importantly, when she became ill, she wanted to be treated as normal.

“It is these experiences that the Willow Foundation aims to replicate through the provision of special days for other seriously ill young adults living throughout the UK.”

The charity has a special significance for Larkfleet Group managing director Karl Hick and his wife Helen. Helen’s sister Maureen died from cancer at the age of 24 and the couple now support the work of the Willow Foundation in providing help to young adults who are now fighting similar illnesses.

Their commitment is reinforced by the fact that Karl is a life-long Arsenal supporter and has many memories of seeing Bob Wilson play for the club.

Karl told guests: “We have had tremendous support in putting on this event to raise funds for the Willow Foundation. I would like to thank the many companies and individuals who have donated items for the auction, raffle and tombola and others who have made gifts of cash.”

Larkfleet and Muir demonstrate 'Green' heating system in affordable homes for local people 31st October 2008

Senior staff and directors from South Kesteven District Council, Larkfleet Homes and Muir Group Housing Association met in the village of Harlaxton, near Grantham, to see an innovative low energy heating system turned on.

Larkfleet Group has designed and built 29 new homes at The Drift, Harlaxton for Muir Group, with some of the funding for the homes being provided by the government’s Housing Corporation.

The development comprises a range of two and three bedroom houses and bungalows which are being reserved exclusively for local people with a direct connection to the village.

Some of the homes are being made available for low-cost renting and some are being offered for ‘shared ownership’, allowing a family to buy part of the home and rent the rest from the housing association as a way of ‘getting a foot on the housing ladder’.

The homes are all fitted with air source heat pumps – a heating system which operates like a refrigerator running in reverse, taking heat from the surrounding air to heat the home. It is designed to provide low cost and environmentally-friendly heating and hot water in this way even on cold winter days when the outside air temperature is low.

The homes are also built with high standards of insulation and other features to reduce their ‘carbon footprint’.

The first air source heat pump has now been officially turned on – watched by tenant Sally Wilson who will be moving into the home within the next few days.

Larkfleet has handed over the first six homes on the site to Muir with the rest to follow over the coming weeks.

David Robinson, development director at Muir Group Housing Association, said: “Muir Group is delighted to be working in partnership with Larkfleet to develop homes that meet the highest environmental standards.

“We will be monitoring the performance of the air source heat pump system over the next few months to see how it performs during the winter. If it is the success that we expect it to be, we will be aiming to put similar systems into future new homes.”

The house where the first heat pump was switched on will be occupied by tenant Sally Wilson with her partner John Bates and nine-year old son Connor Singleton who attends the primary school in Harlaxton.

Sally said: “I think the air source heat pump looks like a really good idea. We are all really looking forward to moving into our new home.”

Grantham-born Sally and her family currently live in the nearby village of Woolsthorpe by Belvoir and her local connections have enabled her to get one of the new homes at Harlaxton.

Karl Hick, managing director of Larkfleet Group, said: “Despite recent house price falls, rural communities are still being torn apart by high property prices which prevent local people, especially the young, finding homes in their own village. Even when prices are within reach, it is difficult for people to obtain mortgages.

“Developments such as this, where low-cost rented homes and shared ownership properties are reserved for local people, can play a vital role in maintaining village communities. They can also help to secure the economic future of villages, helping to provide customers for local services and homes for children who will use local schools.”

This is one of a number of developments where Larkfleet is working closely with South Kesteven District Council to provide affordable housing.

Mandy Gee, partnership project officer at South Kesteven District Council, said: “Offering properties only to those who have a connection to the village helps keep communities together. Larkfleet appreciates the need for affordable housing which makes it a beneficial partner for us.”

Karl Hick added: “The council has been extremely helpful in its approach which has allowed us to develop much needed homes for local people who simply cannot buy houses in the current market conditions.”

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