Topping out ceremony for Soham homes

A ‘TOPPING-out’ ceremony to celebrate the completion of nine new affordable homes was held in Soham.

Val Cutting, vice chair of Hundred Houses Society, marked the occasion, in Gimbert Road, by laying a ceremonial roof tile in order to celebrate the building milestone. She was joined at the development, which will be available to the public by March next year, by representatives from East Cambridgeshire District Council and Soham Town Council.

The practice of topping-out a new building can be traced to the ancient Scandinavian religious practice of placing a tree on the top of a new building to appease the tree-dwelling spirits of their ancestors that had been displaced.

Today, a non-religious but formal ceremony is often held to commemorate this milestone in the construction of a building.

The new homes are being built by Bloor Homes and project managed by Iceni Homes in partnership with the district council.

Iceni managing director, Mike Goodson, said:

“Iceni is delighted to be delivering affordable homes in partnership with Hundred Houses Society in Soham, which will help to meet the growing local housing need in the area.”