Babergh has invested more than £20m buying 117 new homes for low-income house-hunters, including those on the Shotley peninsula.

This multi-million-pound investment in social housing will see new properties added to their existing council house stock of more than 6,000 homes, or made available to buy as shared ownership homes – helping low-income families onto the first rung of the property ladder.

The purchases also include developments at Lavenham, Wherstead, Wolsey Grange and Sudbury. These homes are being built thanks to section 106 agreements – a condition imposed by the local authority requiring developers to provide a certain number of affordable homes as part of their scheme to help the local community.

There are 17 affordable homes also under construction in Shotley and Brantham.

Babergh also has three more sales completed with a further nine in the pipeline. These properties are available immediately for occupation by our council tenants.

These properties are in addition to construction already underway on council-owned land. This includes the transformation of the former Angel Court care home in Hadleigh, bought from Suffolk County Council when it closed in 2014.

The site is now being transformed into 21 new one and two-bedroom flats to help those struggling to find suitable homes in the town.

Babergh District Council's cabinet member for housing, Cllr Jan Osborne, said: "This isn't just about bricks and mortar. These new homes provide families somewhere affordable that they can be proud to call home.

"I wish all our future tenants and new home-owners across our district every happiness in their new homes."