Hundreds of affordable homes will be built in the centre of Southend as part of a massive £500million regeneration scheme.

Details of the Better Queensway development were revealed on Tuesday with Southend Council announcing it will partner with Swan Housing Association to deliver 1,600 new homes, subject to board and council approval.

The housing association was picked following an 11-month procurement process which saw a range of developers giving their take on how the scheme would work.

Among the criteria that developers had to meet was the delivery of affordable homes.

The council’s deputy leader, Councillor James Courtenay, says that this means at least 500 will be delivered and some of those will have their rent based on housing benefit rates making them affordable to many.

He said: “You can set rent at market rate, you can set it at ‘affordable’ rate, which is 80 per cent of market value, or you can say let’s look at what housing benefit pays out. We want to set rents in relation to that.

“If you were looking at social rent, you would be setting rents at the same level of housing benefit and that’s what we’re looking to do here.

“It means that if you are in receipt of full housing benefit, you’d have nothing else to pay, which is great for residents on housing lists.”

There are currently 441 properties on the Queensway site set across three tower blocks and residents are guaranteed to be rehoused in the new development if they choose to be and they will pay rent on the same terms as they do now.

Homes for those residents will be built first as part of the initial construction phase and the towers will be demolished one by one as each are vacated.

Mr Courtenay has labelled the scheme the “biggest regeneration project in a generation”.

Labour Councillor Ian Gilbert said: “There are some houses priced at local housing association rates and that is in effect the same as social housing. We don’t have a problem with that element of the scheme.

“Our issue is with the proportion and what else is being counted and defined as affordable. I think it will come as a shock and surprise to many.”

Independent councillors have also raised concerns about what homes will be made available to the existing residents of Queensway but Mr Courtenay has called any claim that the existing residents will not be rehoused within the new development “false rumours”.

He said: “I have promised residents that they will be rehoused within the scheme if that is what they want.”