Mayor James Palmer is about to deliver on a promise to have the first owners of his pioneering £100,000 homes moved in by Christmas.

The ‘home by Christmas’ pledge was made by the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority mayor when work began on the first eight homes just days before lockdown.

The homes are being built on a 23-acre site in Market Street, Fordham, where amidst the 100 homes being built are eight one-bedroom homes that will each be offered for sale for £100,000.

This week the mayor revealed that those homes “are available for eligible buyers to apply to purchase”.

The Combined Authority has been working throughout the summer to cross the T’s and dot the I’s on the criteria for those wanting to buy into the scheme.

Points will be distributed based on the allocations policy passed on Monday by the Combined Authority housing committee.

Hundreds of hopefuls have registered their interest for a £100,000 home on a website launched by the Combined Authority.

The first of those £100,000 homes will be geared to “local working people who fit the key criteria of being unable to afford to buy on the open market, having a strong connection to Fordham and not already owning a home”.

Mayor Palmer said: “We will be fast tracking processes where possible with the aim of getting people into their new homes for Christmas.”

“I will do everything in my power to get those successful applicants into their new homes for Christmas.”

With plans to roll out the scheme across the area, Mayor Palmer said “the ongoing success of this programme hinges on bold developers being brave enough to come forward and do something different. I urge more housing developers to follow suit.”

Andy Hill, chief executive of the Hill Group that is building the Fordham homes, praised the mayor’s “vision to challenge the status quo” by pushing ahead with the scheme.

“These homes will be delivered on time and ready for the first residents to move in by Christmas, despite the operating challenges caused by Covid-19, which is testament to the tenacity and ingenuity of the team,” he said. ”

£100K Homes are new-build, 100 per cent-owned one-bedroom properties which offer the dual benefit of both an affordable deposit and affordable mortgage payments.

They are aimed at giving people who live or work in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough a genuinely affordable step on the housing ladder, while enabling them to live to close to where they work.

£100K Homes are part of Mayor Palmer’s response to the housing crisis which is seeing many people locked out of the property market and forced to pay expensive private rents or are stuck living at home with parents to save costs.

The £100K Homes website (www.100khomes.co.uk) was launched earlier this year, allowing people to find out more and register their interest in buying homes when they become available.