A milestone has been reached in the regeneration of Chatham town centre.

The housing development in The Brook area has got to the half-way stage and the first residents are due to move in next spring.

Once complete it will provide 77 new homes across three sites, Upbury Way, Eldon Street and Cross Street.

To reduce the impact on the environment, the properties in Upbury Way and Eldon Street will have green living roofs.

The new project, which started in March will replace 47 homes built as post-war stock some of which were acquired by compulsory purchase order several years ago.

The work is being carried out by Heart of Medway Housing Association, which was set up in 2010 and is part of mhs homes group. It carries out all new grant-funded housing developments and has so far received £500,000 from the Homes and Communities Agency.

Gary Clark, mhs homes operations director, said: “This forms part of a £37 million investment into 255 new homes during the financial year. Further regeneration is planned for 89 apartments near to the new Rochester rail station in Corporation Street.”

The regeneration, which has been on the drawing table for more than a decade includes the Waterfront bus station which opened in October 2011 and replaced the old bus station in the Pentagon.

Significant works on the river walk at Chatham Waterfront have been completed this year including resurfacing, new lighting, new guard rail, street furniture and tree planting. In addition, the existing CCTV coverage has been installed to cover the extended river walk by another new housing development, Empire Reach.

Further works in the riverside area include resurfacing and widening of the pedestrian footpath on Medway Street, adjacent to the Staples store. The intention is to make the area easier for pedestrians to access and create a gateway feature at the junction of Pier Chambers/Medway Street to encourage people down to Sun Pier and the River Medway.

Sun Pier House has been transformed into an arts centre, with galleries, workshops and a cafe.

Orbit South has been redeveloping a piece of land to build a mixture of family houses and apartments for both affordable rent and shared ownership. The site on Carpeaux Close, Chatham was previously occupied by two blocks of flats, Carpeaux House and Valenciennes House which have been demolished.