THE first house in a development of 32 luxury homes has been sold for more than £2m.

Four houses in the Chigwell Grange development, off the High Road, have been built so far and one of the smaller homes has gone to a couple for the asking price of £2.05m.

The head of sales for developers Byrne Estates, Warren O'Callaghan, said: “It's not quite where we need to be. We were hoping to have two sold by the end of the month.

“We have a couple of offers on one of them, though, and there has been a lot of interest.

"Families have been looking round and even couples whose children have moved out."

He added that it would take years to finish building at the site, as each house takes nine to 12 months to complete.

Plans for the development include the return of nearby parkland to community use, with a sports pavilion and playing fields.

The site was handed over from the district council to the specially-established Grange Farm Trust in the early 1990s, but the development was hampered by disputes over the access road and Byrne Estates' contributions towards services such as roads and education.