A £64m housing development in St Albans has been completed, bringing 93 new and affordable homes to the city.

At a ceremony on July 31, St Albans City and District Council (SADC) officially unveiled the Jubilee Square project, which has been years in the making, having been plagued by delays.

The development is in a previously rundown area of the city centre and has seen a former police station and NHS clinic transformed into housing.

All 93 flats have been purchased by housing association Watford Community Housing.

Thirty-three of the properties will be made into social housing for people on SADC's housing register.

The council says that the remaining 60 homes will be sold on a shared-ownership basis, prioritising young people and key workers.

The ribbon was cut by council leader Cllr Paul de Kort, Daisy Cooper MP, Mayor of St Albans Jamie Day, Cllr Jacqui Taylor and project manager Jenny Stenzel.

Suggested Reading:

Cllr De Kort said: “I am pleased that we have completed this highly ambitious project to budget despite the enormous challenges that no one could have anticipated, including the Covid pandemic, soaring inflation, and changes to building regulations in the wake of the Grenfell fire.

“Jubilee Square is a great addition to the city centre that we can all be proud of and that will be enjoyed by generations to come.”

As well as housing, the site includes 5,000 square meters of commercial space and a new walkway, linking Victoria Street and Civic Close.

Cllr Taylor, chair of the housing and inclusion committee, said: "One of our main priorities as a council is to deliver more social housing.

“This multi-million-pound development is a vivid demonstration of our commitment to social rent housing in an area of high unaffordability."

Tina Barnard, chief executive of Watford Community Housing, said: “We are delighted to have acquired Jubilee Square, bringing 93 much-needed new homes to St Albans.

“This development demonstrates the brilliant partnership working between housing associations and local councils that is vital to the delivery of affordable homes, and we are very pleased to be able to provide these homes to residents in St Albans, especially as it is an area that can be very expensive."