THE show homes of some of the 100 houses being built at the old Quebec Barracks in Bordon will be open by Christmas, and sale bookings begin in November.

That’s the news Radian’s Tim Wilcox told Whitehill Town Council on Monday when giving an update on the progress of the first housing estate to built as part of the Green Town redevelopment.

The properties will range from four-bedroom houses to two-bedroom flats, providing 25 affordable homes, and some will be completed by next month.

Along with the 100 homes, he said, Radian was also looking to provide 100 jobs at the site and was creating office space for start-up businesses and local companies. In the centre of the development will be Barracks Square - a public open space.

“We have kept two of the original Army buildings because of their heritage,” Mr Wilcox, head of home ownership at the Eastleigh-based housing group, told councillors. “There will also be a cafe run by Arcadia, which is the catering part of Radian and provides jobs and apprenticeships for young people.”

The commercial units were due to be completed by July 2017 and their target for the completion of the development was 2018. However, Mr Wilcox admitted, there had been problems with the drainage and electricity. “If we aren’t delayed by the weather, we hope to have the show houses open by December 3,” he said.

Councillor Ian Georgii asked about the provision of flats and whether there was a lift for disabled residents.

Mr Wilcox responded that the flats only had two bedrooms, rather than three or four, but there was a lift in one of the blocks.

Councillor Adam Carew said he had heard they had encountered substantiability problems and Mr Wilcox agreed. “Because we have had a lot of testing of new technology, we no longer have zero-carbon hubs but we have followed the instructions for the green space and the SANG (Bordon Inclosure) but we weren’t able to get everything in,” Mr Wilcox said.

In reply to a question from councillor Tony Muldoon, Mr Wilcox said the prices of the houses and flats would also be published on December 3.

In the assisted-living flats, said councillor Mark Davison, there seemed to be a lack of clothes-drying facilities and the choice seemed to be either a bath or drying the washing as it had to be hung up over the bath.

In some flats, said Mr Wilcox, were washer driers or tumble driers. Mr Davison replied: “Some people can’t afford to run tumble dryers.” It would be up to the individual residents, said Mr Wilcox, which room they chose to dry their washing in.