People have started to move into Picture House Green, a new 74-home development in the town of Leiston.

The first 12 homes on the Flagship Homes site near the Suffolk coast have been finished. Located off St Margarets Crescent, the development is transforming land near the Suffolk coast into a new community for more than 200 people.

Stephen Jones, senior project manager at Flagship Homes, said: “It’s fantastic to see people moving in and making these houses their homes. There’s a real need for affordable housing in this area, and we’re proud to be delivering high-quality, energy-efficient homes that people can afford.”

On the overall site, 55 of the homes will be for affordable rent, meaning they will be allocated to families on the local housing register at a maximum of 80% of the market rate. They will then be managed by the housing association, Newtide Homes.

The other 19 will be for shared ownership – a hybrid between buying and renting which allows people to get onto the housing ladder with a small deposit. Of the finished homes, eight are for affordable rent and four are for sale through shared ownership.

Mr Jones said: “Housing tenures like shared ownership are more important than ever in popular areas such as Leiston. They give people the opportunity to stay in their local community without being priced out.”

There is a mix of one, two and three bedroom homes, and each home will feature solar panels and have an EPC rating of B, meaning they will be cheaper to run and better for the environment. Construction firm Lovell is the main contractor for the project.

Named after Suffolk’s oldest purpose-built cinema – Leiston’s historic Picture House Theatre – the development will also include a new children’s play park and direct access to playing fields to the west of the site.

Flagship Homes is a housebuilding subsidiary of Bromford Flagship, following the merger of Flagship Group with Bromford at the end of February.

This project is part of Bromford Flagship’s strategic partnership with Homes England, which is helping to fund affordable housing.

The entire development is set to be completed by October.