Deliberations are complete: The 2026 Essex Housing Awards shortlist is now LIVE
23 July 2026
On Friday, 17 July, a panel of leading housing professionals and advisors convened at Delta Housing’s offices in Chelmsford for a challenging day of judging entries for this year’s awards.
Reflecting on this year’s entries, Essex’s housing sector continues to build on its progress, with a strong focus on delivering high-quality, sustainable homes while responding to increasingly complex housing needs. From net zero innovation and skills development to specialist housing and homelessness prevention, the breadth of work submitted reflects a sector that is collaborative, forward-thinking, and firmly committed to creating inclusive, resilient communities where more people can thrive and belong.
We are delighted to see the new Partnership of the Year award receive the highest number of entries this year, with the Mo Slade Rising Star Award coming in second. The Inclusive Growth and Social Value category (another new addition) and Climate Action and Net Zero Housing follow as joint third most entered categories.
Moving forward, shortlisted entrants, their guests and wider Essex housing professionals will gather at an enchanting Awards Ceremony on 5 November, at Hylands House, to announce the winners and celebrate the outstanding achievements made over the past year.
Paul Edwards, Chief Executive, Delta Housing, said: “Congratulations to all of this year’s shortlisted nominees. Whether you win or not on the night, we’re looking forward to celebrating with you at the awards ceremony later this year.”
Talking about the most popular award category for entries, Partnership of the Year, Paul added: “No single organisation can meet the challenge of the growing need for housing by working alone. The strength of our sector lies in our collective experience and abilities, and partnerships are key to unlocking this. Effective partnerships bring together land, funding, expertise and local knowledge, enabling projects to be delivered faster, at greater scale and with better outcomes for residents.”
A few anonymous comments from the judges this year are as follows: “The quality of the entries continues to rise, with really good submissions coming from across Greater Essex…There are some real gems among this year’s entries and some fantastic stories that deserve to be told well beyond the awards ceremony…The panel followed a thorough scoring and moderation process and reached a strong consensus on an impressive and diverse group of winners.”
The Essex Housing Awards continue to celebrate excellence in developments, services, and individuals across the public, private, and voluntary sectors, while promoting best practices throughout the county.
The shortlisted entries are as follows:
Small Housing Schemes (1–24 homes) sponsored by Re-Gen (UK) Construction
Pyms Road – Delta Housing
The Hedges – English Rural
Fyfield Road – FINC Architects
Wheeler Close – Rose Builders
Ganels Mews – Sempra Homes
Medium Housing Schemes (25–100 homes)
Burnham Road – Delta Housing
Hart Road – Potter Raper & Rose Builders
Bowers Close – Sempra Homes
Myleswood, Kelvedon Hatch – Stonebond
Large Housing Schemes (101+ homes) sponsored by Birketts
Manningtree Park – City & Country
Lexden Gardens – Essex County Council
Limebrook Park Garden – FINC Architects
Chapelgate Mews – Sempra Homes
Excellence in Design & Placemaking
Manningtree Park – City & Country
Burnham Road – Delta Housing
Hart Road – Potter Raper & Rose Builders
Colchester Townhouse – Re-Gen Construction UK
Ghyllgrove Close – Sempra Homes
Excellence in Construction Skills sponsored by Delta Housing
Building a Lasting Legacy – Essex County Council & Morgan Sindall
Construction Technical Excellence College – New City College
Re-Gen UK Construction – Re-Gen Construction UK
Rose Builders – Rose Builders
Sempra Homes – Sempra Homes
The Skills Centre – The Skills Centre
Inclusive Growth and Social Value *NEW* sponsored by DevComms
Welfare Benefits Team – Delta Housing
Building Inclusive Growth – Essex County Council
Lexden Gardens – Kind & Co
#GirlsCanBuild – OCL London
Hart Road – Potter Raper & Rose Builders
Colchester Townhouse – Re-Gen Construction UK
Building Skills Through Development – Sempra Homes
Climate Action and Net Zero Housing sponsored by Kind & Company
Cross Cottages – Colchester City Council
Burnham Road – Delta Housing
Carpenters Yard – Delta Housing in partnership with NewArch Homes
HEAT Essex – Happy Energy Solutions
Hart Road – Potter Raper & Rose Builders
Southend-on-Sea City Council – Southend-on-Sea City Council
Hayrick Passivhaus Plus – Stanley Bragg Architects
Meeting Housing Need – Homelessness
Perpetrator Housing Pilot Scheme – Chelmsford and Southend Homelessness Teams
Beyond the Box – Colchester City Council
Housing First Project – Delta Housing in partnership with Chelmsford City Council
Housing Dilemmas CIC – Housing Dilemmas CIC
Lacro Void Refurbishment – Re-Gen Construction UK
Meeting Housing Need – Specialist Housing
Amber Close – Delta Housing
Nacro, Temporary Accommodation – Re-Gen Construction UK
Burnham Waters – Stanley Bragg Architects
Partnership of the Year *NEW*
Delta Housing and NewArch Homes – Delta Housing and NewArch Homes
The Hedges – English Rural
Essex Rough Sleeping Outreach Partnership – Essex County Council
Greater Essex One Public Estate Partnership – Essex County Council
HEAT Essex – Happy Energy Solutions
Harlow & Gilston Garden Town, Sustainable Transport Corridor – Harlow & Gilston Garden Town
Military Road, Colchester – Rose Builders in partnership with Colchester City Council and Colchester Borough Homes
Chapelgate, Basildon Town Centre Regeneration Programme – Sempra Homes
Southend Rough Sleeping Partnership – Southend-on-Sea City Council
Housing & Development Professional of the Year
Jack Baron RIBA – Baron Architects
Kate Gerrish – Delta Housing
Kelly White – Delta Housing
Tom Puncher – Oxbury Chartered Surveyors
Justyn French – Rose Builders
Tim Holland – Southend-on-Sea City Council
The Mo Slade Rising Star Award
Melodee Monroe – Delta Housing
Sam Hardy – Delta Housing
Vandana Saini – Delta Housing
Chelsea Gardiner – FINC Architects
Edward Hinds – Re-Gen Construction
Jack Mabbutt – Rose Builders
Tilly Jones – Sempra Homes
Eloise Booth – Southend-on-Sea City Council
The Essex Housing Awards Ceremony will return to Hylands House again in 2026 and we are able to accommodate a large audience, allowing for a limited number of tickets available to wider organisations in the sector. While the awards will take centre stage, the Essex Housing Awards Ceremony is a great place to connect with colleagues in the housing sector and network with leaders in the sector and local authority members.
Gemma Gallagher, Head of Partnerships, Kind & Co, said: We’re looking forward to hearing about the fantastic achievements that have taken place since we last attended in 2025. It’s always a pleasure to come together with the housing professionals across Essex to celebrate the hard work that goes into the delivery of high-quality, sustainable homes for families across Essex.
If you have been shortlisted, you will receive two free tickets per category entered, limited to five tickets maximum, and you can book additional discounted tickets (you will receive your discount code by email).
If you are part of the wider network planning to attend for an evening of celebration and networking, Individual tickets are £160, or a table of 10 will be £1,500. You can book tickets here: https://bookings.wlcreative.org.uk/event/essex-housing-awards-2026-ceremony/
The Essex Housing Awards 2026 is brought together in partnership with Essex Developers Group (EDG), the South Essex Housing Group (SEHG), and the Essex Housing Officers Group (EHOG). It is held in association with Birketts and Delta Housing and is sponsored by Kind & Company, DevComms and Re-Gen (UK) Construction.
For more information and to enter, visit: https://www.housingessex.org/essex-housing-awards-2026/
Follow us on LinkedIn: Essex Housing Awards for regular updates.
