March 2023 Levens Community Project update

Groundworks and initial infrastructure work on the four affordable houses at Underhill have now been completed (pictured above). This has been funded primarily from the Community Led Housing Fund (a Government fund administered by SLDC) which awarded £249,235 to the Underhill work. Of that award, £52,041 remains and will be allocated to the costs of further infrastructure works associated with utilities connections (electricity and water).

A further element of Infrastructure Grant was awarded for groundworks at the Institute. Clearly, these cannot be commenced until the new Village Hall has been built. The Project is immensely grateful to SLDC and the Community Led Housing Fund for acknowledging the extra-ordinary cost pressures that have come about as a result of global economic conditions including Covid19, the war in Ukraine, the associated hike in the costs of energy and raw materials and resultant inflation. As a result of our representations on this, the Fund has awarded, in principle, an exceptional increase in Infrastructure Grant towards planned work at the Institute.

Work on the new boundary walls at the new Village Hall site continues (pictured above). The key task at the moment remains to confirm the most cost-effective solution to bringing in the electricity supply to the site and the most sustainable installations for heating and lighting. Considerable work continues on exploring alternative options, on completion of which the Project will go out to tender for the construction phase which could be as soon as March/April. This remains the case at Underhill.

The Project is working closely with its estate agents on offers received for the two plots of land that remain on the market for sale to private individuals for self-build.