Government has today announced the sale of the flats in the affordable housing scheme at Chatham Views. This is the third such scheme to be announced after those at Hassan Centenary Terraces and Bob Peliza Mews.

Chatham Views will be located at the current Westside School site on Queensway Road. Now that the School is being relocated to the new building at Waterport, it frees up land for the construction of this new housing estate, which is envisaged to commence during the last quarter of 2019.

This latest development will provide a total of 228 homes in total. Significantly, once again, this project will also provide a block of rented accommodation by way of 44 purpose-built flats for the elderly which will have their own parking spaces directly underneath the blocks.

Of the 184 flats for sale in this estate, the breakdown is as follows: · One-bedroom flats – 4

· Two-bedroom flats – 34

· Three-bedroom flats – 106

· Four-bedroom flats - 40

Prices for the flats will be available as from mid August, applying the same costing formula as for Hassan Centenary Terraces and Bob Peliza Mews. These flats will be offered for sale on a 100% basis and can also be purchased on a 50/50 basis with no advantage being derived by purchasing 100%.

The sale of homes at Hassan Centenary Terraces commenced on the 24th April when applicants began to be contacted. So far, Gibraltar Residential Properties Limited (GRPL) have contacted 344 applicants for these and are continuing the process. GRPL are currently contacting applications in category two.

The prices for Bob Peliza Mews will be announced on the 8th July and the sale will start thereafter.

The priority for sale will remain the same as for Hassan Centenary Terraces and Bob Peliza Mews and those who release Government rental flats will have priority as this in turn provides for homes to be returned to the rental stock for those who cannot afford to purchase. Eligibility criteria and priority of allocation remains as previously announced.

Government have said that to date, the number of affordable homes that have been offered for sale in this wave of affordable housing including this development, Hassans Centenary Terraces and Bob Peliza Mews are 1248 homes.

"This is part of the continuing policy of the Government to provide homes for our people. It will be recalled that 564 homes have been constructed at Beach View Terraces, 262 at Mons Calpe Mews. In addition to this, a further 266 homes, mainly former MOD properties, have been put out to tender. This takes the total to 2340 have been made available for sale for our people so far.

Furthermore, there have been a total 269 homes for rental as purpose built flats for the elderly; 127 in this development and Bob Peliza Mews in addition to the 142 built previously at Sea Master Lodge and Charles Bruzon House."

There will be a dedicated website for sale at www.chathamviews.gi which contains all relevant information.

The Chief Minister, the Hon Fabian Picardo QC, said, "When we build affordable homes we are laying the foundations for building more Gibraltarian families. These are the building blocks of the longevity and strength of our nation's future. The massive amount of interest in these homes and the huge take up we have seen of those we have already put on the market demonstrates that we have chosen the right designs, we have managed to reach the right price point and that we are building the numbers of homes required. There will, no doubt, be negative comments, there always are on everything. But the vast majority of our people will see we have done the right thing by making these choices and delivering these options."

The Deputy Chief Minister, the Hon Dr Joseph Garcia, added, "The construction of homes for our people is in the public interest and therefore a policy priority for the Government. The provision of housing on this plot was announced some time back. Our track record shows that when we make a commitment to a housing scheme we then see it through from concept design to construction. Chatham Views is our fifth major housing project in line with the commitment we have given to provide more homes.”

Minister for Housing, the Hon Samantha Sacramento, said: "I am delighted to once again be part of the team delivering further affordable housing possibilities for our community as well as more purpose built affordable housing for our community. This is further proof of our commitment to providing homes for our community and the number of homes that we are building both for sale as well as rental in our new developments is unprecedented. I am also particularly pleased that we are continuing the model of providing purpose-built rental flats for the elderly within this estate so that we can maximise the community feel and, of course, this will deliver a direct knock-on effect to the housing rental stock by increasing it in this way.

"The development of these three estates is the culmination of great effort between the Ministry for Housing, the Chief Technical Officer, Land Property Services and the architects to ensure that we can maximise the number of homes that we could make available to our community. I wish to thank everybody who has worked so closely to make this a reality."

The flats will be allocated in the following order of priority:

i. Applicants who release HMGoG rented accommodation.

ii. Applicants on the Housing Waiting List, but excluding those only eligible for a one-bedroom EXCEPT THAT if two applicants who are only eligible for a one-bedroom wish to apply jointly as a couple, they will be included in this category and be eligible for a maximum of a three-bedroom.

iii. Applicants on the Housing Waiting List eligible for a one-bedroom. Applicants would be sorted into groups in order of how long they have been on the Housing Waiting List, and each group would then be sorted by way of a draw.

iv. Applicants eligible to apply for HMGoG-rented housing but not on the Housing Waiting List / Applicants who, other than because they already previously owned property, would be eligible to apply for housing / Applicants who are meritorious upgraders (i.e. those requiring larger accommodation because of family composition). This group would be sorted and prioritised depending on their housing needs.

v. Applicants wishing to upgrade or transfer from their currently owned accommodation. This group would be sorted by way of a draw.

vi. Applicants resident in Gibraltar but not falling into any of the above categories. This group would be sorted by way of a draw.

vii. Any remaining apartments will be sold by way of tender to the highest bidder.