An inspiring evening of celebration brought together 250 guests at the stunning Hylands House for the Essex Housing Awards 2025, in association with Birketts LLP, CHP and Estuary Housing.

Hosted once again by BBC’s Mark Easton, the event was filled with warmth, energy and good humour, keeping the packed audience of housing professionals, architects, planners, surveyors, land agents, contractors and rising stars thoroughly engaged throughout the evening.

Mark Curle, Chair of the Essex Developers Group (EDG), Tina Dodd, Vice Chair of the South Essex Housing Group (SEHG), and Tim Clarke, Chair of the Essex Housing Officers Group (EHOG) opened the ceremony with reflections on the sector’s growing activity, innovation and progress across the county and the collective commitment to building a better, more sustainable housing future for Essex.

They were followed by a welcome address from Steven Kay of Birketts LLP who reaffirmed their support for celebrating the partnerships and innovation driving the county’s housing success stories.

He says, “I was delighted to celebrate the finalists and winners of the Essex Housing Awards 2025 at the ceremony in Hylands House this month. Being at the heart of the housing sector, we are privileged to work alongside so many in the Essex housing sector that are driving the industry forward to deliver well-designed, sustainable, inclusive, and community-focussed homes. Every year, the calibre of entries gets better and better, and I am excited to see what’s next for the developments, organisations and individuals shaping the future of housing in the region”

The evening featured awards across multiple categories, honouring exceptional contributions to design, construction, sustainability, and community impact. With a remarkable 87% increase in submissions, judges noted the quality, creativity, and ambition of entries, praising projects that are raising the bar for housing excellence across Essex.

After an impressive buffet dinner, co-headline sponsors CHP and Estuary Housing welcomed the audience back for the second half of the ceremony.

Paul Edwards, CEO, CHP said, “CHP has been a long-time supporter of the Essex Housing Awards, and it was an honour to co-sponsor them this year with our friends at Estuary Housing Association. The awards highlighted that our strength lies in our collective experience and abilities when it comes to addressing the housing crisis. It was a pleasure to celebrate the vast array of different skills, experiences, specialisms, and talent across the sector in Essex”

The final award of the night, The Mo Slade Rising Star Award, sponsored by Anderson, once again proved to be a crowd favourite. Named in memory of Mo Slade, a long-serving advocate for youth and community within Basildon Council, the category continues to spotlight the next generation of housing professionals making their mark in the sector.

The Essex Housing Awards 2025 continues to grow as a major highlight in the regional calendar, celebrating not only the projects that shape Essex’s built environment but also the people behind them. As one attendee remarked, “It was truly inspiring to see the achievements across Essex and to celebrate all the great work being done.”

The Winners of the Essex Awards 2024 are as follows:

• Small Housing Schemes (1-24 homes)
• Winner: Honeycroft Development – Tendring District Council
• Highly Commended: Pound Lane – Basildon Council
• Medium Housing Schemes (25-100 homes)
• Winner: Fitzroy Place – Anderson in partnership with CHP
• Highly Commended: Oakview Walk – Essex Housing
• Large Housing Schemes (101+ homes) sponsored by Birketts
• Winner: Channels, Phases 3 and 5 – JTP
• Highly Commended: Wolsey Park – Countryside (part of the Vistry Group) in partnership with CHP
• Excellence in Design and Placemaking sponsored by Morgan Sindall
• Winner: Oakview Walk – Stanley Bragg Architects Ltd
• Highly Commended: Channels, Phases 3 and 5 – JTP
• Excellence in Construction Skills sponsored by CHP and Estuary Housing
• Winner: Re-Gen (UK) Construction
• Highly Commended: Building Skills Through Development – Sempra Homes
• Climate Action – Decarbonisation / Retrofit sponsored by Kind & Company
• Winner: Southend-on-Sea City Council
• Highly Commended: Retrofit 25 (Colchester) – ECOedge
• Highly Commended: Switch Together Essex – Essex County Council
• Climate Action – Low or Zero Carbon in New Build sponsored by Ground Control
• Winner: Southend-on-Sea City Council
• Highly Commended: Embodied Carbon Policy Position and Evidence Base for Greater Essex – Essex County Council’s Climate and Planning Unit (CaPU)- Essex County Council’s Climate and Planning Unit (CaPU)
• Highly Commended: Essex Open Legal Advice – Estelle Dehon KC, Cornerstone Barristers and ECC Climate and Planning Unit (CaPU)
• Meeting Housing Need – Specialist Housing
• Winner: Essex Supported and Specialist Housing and Accommodation Need Assessment (Housing Learning and Improvement Network and Essex County Council)
• Highly Commended: Turning Point – CHESS and Chelmsford City Council
• Meeting Housing Need – Homelessness
• Winner: The Temporary Accommodation and Homelessness Programme – Sempra Homes Ltd
• Highly Commended: Essex Outreach Service – Peabody Trust
• Highly Commended: Stephen’s House, Maldon – Re-Gen (UK) Construction
• Smart Working
• Winner: Sigma South Essex (SSE) – Basildon Council
• Highly Commended: CHP with Switchee
• Housing and Development Professional of the Year by Countryside Partnerships (part of the Vistry Group)
• Winner: Martin Berry – Southend on Sea City Council
• Highly Commended: Emily Diplock – HMP Chelmsford
• The Mo Slade Rising Star Award sponsored by Anderson Development
• Winner: Ursula Aitchison – CHP
• Winner: Josh Alderton – Southend City Council
• Highly Commended: Tilly Jones – Sempra Homes Ltd
• Highly Commended: Danny Hartland – Re-Gen (UK) Construction

The Essex Housing Awards 2025 was once again delivered in partnership with Housing Essex, Essex Developers Group (EDG), South Essex Housing Group (SEHG) and the Essex Housing Officers Group (EHOG), and sponsored by Birketts, CHP, Estuary Housing Association, Anderson Developments, Countryside Partnerships (part of the Vistry Group), Ground Control, Higgins, Kind & Company, Morgan Sindall.

For more information on the awards programme, visit: https://www.housingessex.org/essex-housing-awards-2025/