Housing association AmicusHorizon has been awarded £20.4m to build 359 affordable homes in Kent and Sussex.

The grant will be used to build a total of 689 houses across London and the South East between 2015 and 2018.

It means the company expects to complete more than 1,200 homes in the region by that time.

It is expected most of the newly announced houses in the county will be buiit in Sittingbourne, Faversham and the Isle of Sheppey, with a handful in Canterbury.

The cash has come from the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) and the Greater London Authority (GLA).

The HCA allocated £9.8m for homes in Kent and Sussex, with the £10.6m from the GLA for homes in the capital.

AmicusHorizon chief executive Paul Hackett said: “We welcome the opportunity to work with the HCA, GLA and local authority partners to build on the success of our current programme.

“And we look forward to working with our partners to deliver schemes which meet local housing needs.”

The company looks after 28,000 homes in Kent, Sussex and London.