Red Kite has confirmed more families are set to move into a new development shortly – amid concerns from a neighbour that some of the recently-finished homes are still empty.

The “outdated” Queensmead House in Queensmead Road, Loudwater, was bulldozed after plans by Red Kite Community Housing to replace them with new homes were given the green light in March 2019.

The new Mill Close development, which offers 24 flats and six shared-ownership houses, was finally finished towards the beginning of April after the project was delayed by Covid.

Speaking at a Beaconsfield and Chepping Wye Community Board meeting this month, neighbour Paul Cogger said he was concerned that despite a desperate shortage of housing, some of the newly completed homes are still empty.

He said: “We have a new development in Loudwater, which is a 30-home Red Kite development in conjunction with this offshoot, Twenty11, and it was supposed to be completed last June. It was completed about six weeks ago.

“They expressed a real urgency to get people in because there was a desperate need for homes for people and so we expected this massive influx of people over a course of a few days.

“Well, just to say, of those 30 homes, the vast majority of them remain empty six weeks down the line.

“The rest are all empty. The houses at the back are all empty. And it is of considerable concern and worry that having said for so long and for so many months, that they were absolutely eager to get these properties completed because they had people waiting for them, that now, six weeks down the line having been completed, they still remain empty.”

He also shared how the whole building operation had been “unpleasant” for him as a neighbour.

He said: “I live right next door to the development and have seen the whole procedure through since 2013 when they announced closure of what was there, the previous sheltered development and its demolition and rebuild, which has been a very, very unpleasant experience all throughout.

“But now to see a lot of new properties empty, there must be a lot of needy families. And all I can say, it's very, very sad that six weeks after completion, they're still empty.”

A spokesman for Red Kite Community House clarified that while some of the properties are still empty, they have all been allocated to those in desperate need of housing and would be occupied shortly.

 Julie Gamble-Kempe, Head of Communications and Brand at Red Kite Community Housing, said: “We are happy to share that all the homes at our Mill Close development – 24 flats and six shared-ownership houses – have been allocated and people have either already moved into their new homes, or are due to do so very shortly.

“This is a multi-tenure site with two affordable rent schemes, one run by Red Kite and the other by Twenty11, as well as the shared ownership homes which give local people the opportunity to buy at affordable levels.

“We know everyone is really excited to move in and we can’t wait to see Mill Close filled with families.

“Mill Close is very successful development that showcases the standard of homes we can build. We always said we wouldn’t build boring boxes and I think the results we have at this site prove that.”