A 122-flat scheme in Wickford will now be“100 per cent affordable”.

Sanctuary Housing began construction on the two six-storey block Runwell Road development – known locally as Runwell Towers but labelled “Gateway House” by the developer – at the end of last year.

At a planning meeting on Wednesday Basildon Council agreed to bin a legal agreement (known as an S106) that would see the Sanctuary pay the council a lump sum of more than £500,000.

In return, the firm has pledged to make the development 100 per cent affordable.

Planning documents reveal 64 of the homes will be made available for “affordable rent” while the remaining 58 will be “intermediate housing” – for sale and rent provided at a cost above social rent, but below market levels.

In December, a ground breaking ceremony marked the end of a 12-year saga, which had seen the site left empty and surrounded by hoardings amid a series of long-running battles between the council and potential developers.

Basildon Council rejected several proposals for the site, with some schemes as large as 160 homes, before the current plans for 122 homes went before the council in 2020.

This plan was again rejected; however, the developer took the council to a government planning appeal in 2021 and won.