A landmark agreement has been signed for the first ever affordable housing development of its kind on Portland.
Dorchester-based Koori Limited, part of the Redtale Group of companies, has joined forces with Portland Community Land Trust (CLT) and East Boro Housing Trust (EBHT), part of the Aster Group, for this trailblazing scheme.
Nine affordable homes will be built for local people as part of the regeneration of Portland’s former Southwell Primary School site off Sweet Hill Lane.
The CLT properties will be available to rent at below market rates to local people with a connection to Portland, giving tenants a chance to live in their community with peace of mind over security of tenure and affordability. The properties will not be available as second homes or as holiday lets.
Koori has provided land and is building the development for the CLT scheme – the first on Portland – as part of its circa £15m May Bower Gardens scheme. The first phase of May Bower Gardens is on course for completion in the autumn of this year.
CLTs, which are a form of community-led housing, are set up and run by people within their local communities to develop and manage homes as well as other assets.
The CLTs act as long-term stewards of the properties, ensuring the homes remain genuinely affordable, not just for now but for every future occupier.
Representatives from Koori, EBHT and Portland CLT have now signed a contract for the site. The first residents are expected to move in before Christmas of this year.
The homes, a mixture of one, two and three-bedroom properties, will be built by Koori and managed by housing association EBHT on behalf of the CLT, which will own the freehold.
Portland CLT board is greatly encouraged to see this project moving forward.
They said: “We are aware that demand continues to increase for good-quality, affordable housing on Portland.
“The aim is for May Bower Gardens to be the first of a number of CLT projects on the island. We’re very grateful for the support of all partners in the project.”
There are currently 500 applicants being processed on the housing register who have a Portland connection or who have expressed Portland as their preferred option.
Malcolm Curtis, Chief Executive the Redtale Group, said: “As a local business with its heart in the community, we’re pleased to support this pioneering project to create the first CLT on Portland.
“The homes will match the high-quality and environmental sustainability of Koori’s traditionally built properties and where possible we use the best local materials, including Portland Stone quarried on the island, and tried and tested energy-efficient solutions as well as a local workforce.
“Putting pen to paper with the Portland CLT is a significant milestone on our journey to deliver these desirable affordable homes for local people and marks another major step forward in the regeneration of this important site in a stunning location on the Jurassic Coast.”
Kevin Hodder, Director of Partnership and Engagement at Aster Group who also oversees EBHT’s development programme, said: “EBHT specialises in developing small groups of affordable homes in villages within Dorset for the benefit of local communities.
“CLTs are a brilliant way to deliver affordable housing which local communities both want and need.
“We’re looking forward to working with Portland CLT and Koori to deliver these properties which will provide long-term security to those who eventually get to call them home.
“With energy-efficient design and technologies, customers living in these homes will also benefit from lower energy bills. Coupled alongside the affordable rent, it should help keep overall costs down.”
Councillor Gill Taylor, who is Dorset Council Cabinet Member for Health and Housing, said: “The site has been transformed from redundant school buildings on the old primary school site to provide nine affordable rented homes for local residents.
“Dorset Council supported this work by providing a Community Housing grant and we worked collaboratively from start to finish with our partners including Middlemarch Community Led Housing, who have supported Portland CLT and EBHT.
“This development demonstrates our commitment to community land trusts in Dorset and we hope it will encourage more community led housing to provide the affordable homes we need for local people.”
May Bower Gardens will comprise 48 homes in total. The first phase of 14 properties – a mix of two, three and four-bedroom houses – on the 1.3 hectare site is due for completion autumn 2024.
There are about 25 people working directly on the site, all local trades people including apprentices.
The workforce also includes three specialist stone layers, all from Portland, who walk to work carrying on a generational tradition of stone laying on island.
Stone used in the development is cut from Albion Stone’s Bowers Quarry, just up the road from May Bower Gardens.
The development is due for final completion in 2027. The CLT homes form part of Koori’s affordable housing contribution for the site.
The properties are being built using air-tight and thermally efficient construction methods along with low zero carbon (LZC) technologies. They include electric vehicle charging throughout and air source heat pumps.
Portland CLT is a community benefit organisation run by an elected board of members from the community to meet the housing needs of local people.
It is among several CLTs in Dorset, which work closely with the Dorset Council housing department to progress sites across the county.
Koori Limited, as part of the Redtale group of companies, has a long track record of delivering high quality, well-designed and customer-focused developments.
Koori’s recent property developments include The Grove, the multi award-winning Lorton Park and Monterey Place, all situated in Weymouth, Dorset.
The nine-strong company aims to make a difference in everything it does. Its objective is to ‘do better: better planning, better by design, better build and better customer service’.
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