200 new homes will be delivered by Wates Residential on the south coast. The contractor has already started work on its Daedalus Village scheme, marking this occasion with a time capsule burial in Lee-on-the-Solent. The site will see the rise of a mix of housing consisting of 120 private homes
A new study has revealed the shocking extent of England’s empty homes crisis, with more than 600,000 homes remaining vacant. The study, conducted by Good Move, has found that a third of empty homes are classed as long-term vacant, after being empty for more than six months. The city of
A Swansea-based housing association has received £4.8 million in grant funding from the Welsh Government to deliver three new innovative housing projects across south west Wales. As part of its Innovative Housing Programme, the Welsh Government is to distribute a total of £43 million of housing funding among 26[1] projects
1,500 new homes are to be delivered by Wates Developments and Redrow Homes in Wretchwick Green, Bicester. Cherwell District Council’s Planning Committee granted approval to the revised planning application, which includes housing of dwelling types, sizes and tenures to meet the range of local needs. “This is a great example
Gap Homes, a concept design of factory constructed, contemporary and cost-effective eco-homes, has been launched by the architects from international firm BDP’s Bristol studio. BDP is sponsoring the Bristol Housing Festival, which opens this week on the 19th of October with the launch exhibition that will showcase creative and innovative
Yorkshire-based luxury house builder Duchy Homes has won the prestigious title of ‘Best Residential Developer of the Year 2018’ at the Yorkshire Residential Property Awards last week. Celebrated for their commitment to delivering ‘excellence as standard’ across all their exclusive new housing developments, Duchy Homes was confirmed as having “nailed
Showcasing over 50 year’s experience, Millfield Estates are part of a family owned group of companies whose roots lie in the manufacturing and distributing of replacement spare parts for domestic appliances. Other areas of expertise lie within the manufacture of visual display equipment for the education, healthcare and office sector.
A bespoke three-bedroom 1820 sq ft house designed by Boon Brown Architects for James Laurence Group is being built on a difficult brownfield residential site in Wandsworth, London. This contemporary detached house is enclosed by private houses, a redundant substation land and a small Peabody Trust garden. Boon Brown’s design
Poets, a landmark housing development in the Swinton area of Salford, will soon make its first wave of properties available for purchase. The first six homes for off-plan sale at the 160-property mixed-tenure development have been announced by Salix Living. The development is part of a wider project to develop
SME house builders are to be given help in navigating the development finance process and accessing the funding they need, following the publication of a new guide by UK Finance and the Federation of Master Builders (FMB). The guide offers practical advice on how small house builders should present their
200 new homes will be delivered by Wates Residential on the south coast. The contractor has already started work on its Daedalus Village scheme, marking this occasion with a time capsule burial in Lee-on-the-Solent. The site will see the rise of a mix of housing consisting of 120 private homes and 80 affordable homes. Part of the Accelerated Construction Model together with four other national pilot sites, the Homes England initiative was designed to enable the Government to fast-track the building of homes on publicly owned land and diversify housing delivery. “We are very proud to have started work on the Daedalus Village site, which has a rich history and a very promising future, and are pleased that so many people from the local community joined us to celebrate this significant moment with a time capsule burial,” said Paul Nicholls, Managing Director of Wates Residential South. “Through our work, we will not only deliver 200 new high quality homes for local people but will also increase opportunities in the area through our investment in education, training and skills,” he added. Local suppliers will be appointed for the new homes on the south coast, while residents will benefit from the creation of training and educational opportunities, which aim to boost the local economy. This includes 10 apprenticeships, work experience placements for local students and courses aimed at unemployed adults. The homes are expected to be completed in late 2020. Wates Residential is responding to the needs of its customers by developing mixed tenure housing schemes in partnership with both public and private sector organisations. The business covers new-build and partnership housing development activities, reaffirming its long-term commitment to deliver new homes and to help address the UK’s urgent need for new housing. Its partnership housing offer includes building and selling homes to the public, as well as providing affordable homes for social landlords.
A new study has revealed the shocking extent of England’s empty homes crisis, with more than 600,000 homes remaining vacant. The study, conducted by Good Move, has found that a third of empty homes are classed as long-term vacant, after being empty for more than six months. The city of Liverpool takes the crown for the most vacant properties, with a staggering 10,512 properties laying empty last year. The data comes despite efforts by Liverpool City Council to reduce the amount of unused homes with a free matchmaking service to introduce buyers and sellers of empty homes, in a bid to bring more empty homes into use. Birmingham follows closely behind, with 10,386 empty homes. The city famous for its Bullring accounts for 17% of West Midlands’ total number of unoccupied homes. The Yorkshire city of Leeds has the third highest number of empty homes throughout the country, with 10,263 properties vacant. Leeds’ empty homes equates to 14% of Yorkshire and the Humber’s empty homes. The North West has the most unoccupied properties, with 102,847 homes laying empty across the region, and 38% of those being vacant for longer than six months. Liverpool has the most empty homes in the North West, and the country as a whole, with 10,512 properties that are not in use in 2017. Following closely behind the North West is the South East, with a staggering 86,693 vacant properties last year. Of the 86,000 empty homes, 29% of those have been unoccupied for longer than six months.
A Swansea-based housing association has received £4.8 million in grant funding from the Welsh Government to deliver three new innovative housing projects across south west Wales. As part of its Innovative Housing Programme, the Welsh Government is to distribute a total of £43 million of housing funding among 26[1] projects across Wales this year, including three projects put forward by Coastal Housing, a housing association which operates across Swansea, Carmarthenshire, Bridgend and Neath Port Talbot. Each of the successful applicants had to demonstrate how they would use innovation in a bid to improve the quality of housing in Wales. The first Coastal project – a collaboration with Gower-based social enterprise, Down to Earth (DTE) – will provide six new homes as part of a larger site in Pennard. The homes will be built using timber frame, clad using traditional methods, and will generate over half of their heat passively, from the sun and their design, ensuring that residents’ utility bills cost just £15 per month. The £2m project’s most innovative feature, however, is the people who will be building the homes. DTE provides the opportunity for some of south Wales’ most vulnerable groups – including adults with brain injuries and young people at risk of psychosis, as well as asylum seekers and veterans suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) – to reduce their depression and anxiety levels and improve their skills by working on these construction projects. The project will bring together the previously siloed areas of construction and healthcare by providing vital rehabilitation for local people who are suffering from a variety of mental health issues. A second £500,000 grant will allow Coastal to build 12 homes planned at Killan Road in Dunvant to energy-positive standards, which means they will produce more energy than they use. The homes will be built using the Homes as Power Stations (HAPS) model, with a focus on reducing energy consumption and addressing fuel poverty through reduced reliance on fossil fuels. This new street of innovative, energy positive homes will use solar PV, electric battery storage and borehole ground source heat pumps (GSHP) to generate up to 80% of their energy required for heat and power. The remaining 20% will be provided by the electricity grid, of which a small percentage will come directly from a community owned local solar farm, administered by Gower Power. Coastal Housing will also provide an electric vehicle for communal use as part of the project. The third project to receive grant funding will be Innovation Park in Neath Port Talbot. This £2.2m development will comprise of 8 new homes, all constructed off-site, to showcase the best modular designs from Wales and Japan. As modular housing is still an emerging construction technique in Wales, Costal hopes that the project will provide an opportunity to learn from other countries where it is more advanced. Gareth Davies, director of development at Coastal Housing, said that without the grants, it would not have been possible to progress these three important projects. “At Coastal, we pride ourselves on demonstrating innovation in all we do, from how we deal with people to how we manage our finances, from how we build our homes to how we develop communities, so we are thrilled to have three of our most innovative housing projects selected for funding. “All three developments are very different but equally exciting. Each one will seek to deliver affordable and environmentally-friendly homes, using modern and innovative, energy-efficient construction methods, but will also help the wider community by helping to reduce fuel poverty and providing much-needed job and skills development opportunities. “By providing this vital support, the Welsh Government has shown its commitment to backing the cutting edge work that is going on in housing innovation across Wales, which can only have a positive influence on the Welsh built environment of the future.”
1,500 new homes are to be delivered by Wates Developments and Redrow Homes in Wretchwick Green, Bicester. Cherwell District Council’s Planning Committee granted approval to the revised planning application, which includes housing of dwelling types, sizes and tenures to meet the range of local needs. “This is a great example of how large-scale developments can be brought forward successfully and sympathetically which local people will be proud of for years to come,” said a spokesperson for Wates Developments and Redrow Homes. “While we have changed significant aspects of the masterplan over time, the core ethos for the site has remained in place. We want to create a great place to live and work, with a strong identity of its own, but with equally strong links to Bicester and the surrounding area. Our aim now is to continue to work positively with all stakeholders allowing development to be brought forward swiftly and homes to be built to meet the urgent local need,” the spokesperson added. A key part of the ‘garden town’ plan for the area, the project ensures the amount of open space extends to 71.64 hectares, which equates to over 50% of the overall site. Over four hectares of sports pitches are also provided in one location. Adjacent to the shops and community facility, a new primary school is planned. Meanwhile, approximately eight play areas will be provided across the site including a destination play area which has been designed to be accessible to existing local residents, as well as new ones. In addition, up to 7 hectares of employment land provision has been included, which could provide around 750 high quality local jobs and a vibrant mix of uses within the scheme, together with creating a significant number of jobs through the development phase. The project team consulted with Historic England to redesign the area around the medieval village to the west of the site in order to better respect its setting.
Gap Homes, a concept design of factory constructed, contemporary and cost-effective eco-homes, has been launched by the architects from international firm BDP’s Bristol studio. BDP is sponsoring the Bristol Housing Festival, which opens this week on the 19th of October with the launch exhibition that will showcase creative and innovative housing solutions. The new Gap Home prototype, designed specifically for small plots of land in towns and cities will also be present. “We are in dire need of new homes for a new generation. BDP’s eco Gap Homes will be quickly constructed, cost effective, sustainable and, most important of all, stylish, comfortable and practical to live in,” said Nick Fairham, architect director in BDO’s Bristol studio. “Disused garage plots on existing housing estates are an ideal location for these homes. Many of them have fallen into disrepair, becoming a magnet for everything from fly tipping to anti-social behaviour. Putting new, attractive and carefully designed houses in their place will not only help deliver much-need new homes, it will also bring new energy and life into these areas, revitalising neighbourhoods and helping to build stronger, more resilient communities,” he added. The eco-homes will be made in hi-tech factory conditions and assembled on site up to 40% faster than traditional construction, helping people move into their new homes sooner. Using smart design to make the best possible use of space, the homes incorporate maximum light and height and sophisticated design and storage solutions to give a sense of space, along with low energy services for modern living. With sustainability at the heart of Gap Home, the factory conditions used for the homes’ construction minimises on-site waste by up to 75% and uses materials that mean the final building has minimal energy requirements for heating, low energy lighting and renewable energy provision through solar panels on the roof, making them low carbon and low in running costs. In addition, due to the standardised elements and factory production, the homes can be produced at volume, keeping prices down whilst helping to meet high demand. A palette of materials and designs will be available allowing people to customise their own homes, including internal finishes, kitchens and bathrooms. The size of garage plots and other small urban spaces means the homes will have a compact footprint. Whilst meeting national space standards they will be an affordable option for first time buyers and those looking to downsize in later life.
Yorkshire-based luxury house builder Duchy Homes has won the prestigious title of ‘Best Residential Developer of the Year 2018’ at the Yorkshire Residential Property Awards last week. Celebrated for their commitment to delivering ‘excellence as standard’ across all their exclusive new housing developments, Duchy Homes was confirmed as having “nailed it” by the event organiser Variety, the Children’s Charity, at the black-tie awards ceremony on Thursday 11th October 2018. As well as Duchy Homes’ consistently high standards in building craftsmanship, including its insistence in premium interior specifications, a superb customer care ethos and strong home buying support services, the house builder has significantly invested in the customer experience over the last 12 months with new tools such as an enhanced website, personalised Handover Manuals, and an online portal to guide clients from the point of reservation through to aftercare – all of which is testimony to Duchy Homes being deserving of the title ‘Best Residential Developer’. The annual property event, held at Bowcliffe Hall with Gethin Jones as guest presenter, proved that the region’s property industry is rich in talent, innovation and expertise. The best in the business were rewarded and the awards evening also helped Variety, the children’s charity, raise funds for its work with disabled and disadvantaged children in Yorkshire. Jim Cropper, Managing Director of Duchy Homes’ Yorkshire Division, comments: “We are very proud to have won this award! When we established Duchy Homes just seven years ago, everyone in the company agreed that we would only ever build high-quality houses in great locations and it’s fantastic to be celebrated at these awards for having achieved this and being recognised as the best! It really reflects our attention-to-detail and the value we place in our customers’ satisfaction, and it’s a great reward for the hard work and dedication everyone at Duchy Homes delivers.” Duchy Homes has already provided high-quality homes to some of Yorkshire’s most beautiful settings, from idyllic market towns and quaint villages such as Penistone, Sprotbrough, Chesterfield and Braithwell, to locations rich in history and prestige such as Wetherby. Continuing to build homes of which buyers and the local communities can be proud, Duchy Homes’ current Yorkshire developments can be visited at Swanland and Ranskill, plus more prestigious schemes are coming soon across Yorkshire, Northumberland, Cheshire, Lancashire and Warwickshire. For more information about Duchy Homes and its developments, visit www.duchyhomes.co.uk
Showcasing over 50 year’s experience, Millfield Estates are part of a family owned group of companies whose roots lie in the manufacturing and distributing of replacement spare parts for domestic appliances. Other areas of expertise lie within the manufacture of visual display equipment for the education, healthcare and office sector. Millfield Estates have built and created a substantial and enviable portfolio of industrial estates, trade counter developments, offices, and primes retail units across the United Kingdom. A recent investment has seen the ground floor suite of Millfield Estate’s remarkable Yorkshire House, Chapel Street, Liverpool, be completely refurbished. In prime location at the heart of the City’s thriving business district, the ground floor renovation offers potential tenants the opportunity to work in, and utilise, 882 sq ft of available office space, with seven out of the building’s eight floors now fully let. New tenants and employees to Yorkshire House will instantly feel at home in the new space, due to a light filled, open plan design by Liverpool design agency USP Creative. The space is free of partitions and comes complete with its own modern kitchen, the suite is suited to accommodate the vast majority of business needs. Property Director for Bolton-based Millfield Estates, Paul Dobson, expressed: “We pin-pointed Liverpool as a burgeoning commercial region back in 2016 and purchased the Yorkshire House building in the May of that year. Since then we have seen the city go from strength to strength and it is clear that our ongoing investment in the property has been the right decision, generating a hugely successful letting record.” “We are very lucky to be working with an array of well-established and respected organisations at Yorkshire House and now that the ground floor refurbishment is complete we look forward to welcoming another growing business to this elegant building.” Neil Kirkham, director for CBRE, who works alongside Andrew Own, of Worthington Owen, added: “Millfield Estates’ continued investment into Yorkshire House is testament to the commercial growth that we are currently seeing in Liverpool and its decision to invest has proven to be a smart move. Whichever business decides to take up home in the new office suite will benefit from a beautifully-designed unit, located in the heart of the city’s business district.” Over three generations contribute to the Millfield Estate Legacy as they continue to impress and innovate. A strong presence in their hometown of Bolton stems up and down the country, from Liverpool and Manchester to Nottingham and Mayfair.
A bespoke three-bedroom 1820 sq ft house designed by Boon Brown Architects for James Laurence Group is being built on a difficult brownfield residential site in Wandsworth, London. This contemporary detached house is enclosed by private houses, a redundant substation land and a small Peabody Trust garden. Boon Brown’s design uses simple materials and strong forms to create an original new building that sits composedly within the mix of traditional character and modern utility housing. “The site posed many obstacles to residential development. In addition to being situated in the Park Town Conservation Area, it is adjacent to the Queens Arms pub which is included in Wandsworth Borough Council’s local list of unlisted buildings of architectural or historical interest. The site is also situated within Flood Zone 3 – at risk from a Thames tidal breach requiring flood defence at a level up to 1.8m above pavement level,” explained Craig Jones, Director of BBA. The house includes a three-storey part subterranean courtyard dwelling with bedroom accommodation on the upper ground floor to facilitate flood mitigation. A distinct architectural response to the context, the angular shape and form of the house is directly influenced by the necessity to protect surrounding daylight amenity and prevent overlooking in nearby houses. The strong modern palette uses a grey multi facing brick as the main material, allowing the house to be distinctive without being overbearing. The single elevation onto the highway is narrow and restricted, so the design uses a screen wall as a singular flat component, whose white facing brick stands off against the grey brick of the main structure. A block of glazed cladding lightens the façade, as well as introducing gentle diffused light into the upper floor. Furthermore, the secure elevated courtyard can be entered from pavement level and it contains storage for cycles and bins, as well as the stepped approach up to the main entrance on the upper ground floor. The upper ground floor houses the bedrooms and two bathrooms around a central light well. An internal staircase leads down to the living room and kitchen / diner, each side of a glazed courtyard. The central courtyard and light well offer an elegant solution to maximising the daylight available to the habitable rooms, as well as creating natural ventilation and precious outdoor amenity space. A second internal staircase descends to the basement media room, which will be constructed as a contiguous reinforced concrete box with waterproof walls. Boon Brown’s tailor-made design not only maximises the development opportunity and overcomes the challenges imposed by the location, but succeeds in creating a modern, spacious and welcoming one-off family home.
Poets, a landmark housing development in the Swinton area of Salford, will soon make its first wave of properties available for purchase. The first six homes for off-plan sale at the 160-property mixed-tenure development have been announced by Salix Living. The development is part of a wider project to develop the Poets Estate, also known as Beechfarm, and is the first of Salix Homes since becoming a stand-alone registered housing provider in 2015. As part of the ambitious redevelopment scheme, 146 properties are being demolished that had suffered historical structural damage with 160 brand new homes being built – 40 of which will be made available for outright sale, with the remaining 120 being homes for social housing. “This is a very exciting time for Salix Homes, and we’re very proud to announce our very first properties for sale and play a major role in providing much needed housing in the area. By transforming the Poets Estate, we are helping to make Swinton an even more attractive place to live and work. Poets is just the start for us, and by 2020, we aim to have 400 new homes either developed or in development,” said Jonathan Drake, service director for Salix Living. Throughout the development process, the residents on the estate have been involved to ensure there was minimum disruption to the community. Those affected by the demolition of existing properties on the estate were temporarily rehoused nearby, and are being given priority to move back into the new-build properties. A range of two and three bedroom properties will be available with prices starting at £144,995 for a two-bedroom home and £159,995 for a three-bedroom property, with four-bedroom homes available to buy in the later phases of the development. The homes all feature integrated appliances in the kitchen, Porcelanosa tilling in the bathrooms plus off-street parking, turfed garden areas and a timber garden shed. Interested buyers are urged to get in touch to register their interest in anticipation of the homes being in high demand. For further details, click on this link: https://poets-swinton.co.uk/.
SME house builders are to be given help in navigating the development finance process and accessing the funding they need, following the publication of a new guide by UK Finance and the Federation of Master Builders (FMB). The guide offers practical advice on how small house builders should present their finance applications to lenders to improve their chances of success, as well as listing the alternative options available if an application is turned down. It also offers SME house builders advice on how to make the most of the diverse range of finance options available to them including challenger banks, private equity, crowd funding, finance brokers and Government-supported funds. It follows the announcement of several schemes to increase funding for SME house builders, such as the Housing Delivery Fund and the Housing Growth Partnership, which have been backed by the finance industry in partnership with Homes England. The guide, which will be available on both the FMB and UK Finance websites, was launched today at the FMB’s Eastern Business Conference in Chelmsford, Essex. Stephen Pegge, Managing Director of Commercial Finance, UK Finance, said: “The range of finance options available to SME house builders is now greater than ever, from traditional high street lenders to challenger banks and government-supported schemes. But too often, SMEs are deterred from applying for finance because they are unsure about where to look or whether they’ll be successful. “This guide is designed to help smaller housebuilders navigate this diverse landscape and find the right form of finance for them. Through close cooperation between UK Finance, the FMB and the Government, we are determined to help SME builders grow their business and build the homes the country needs.” Brian Berry, Chief Executive of the FMB, said: “Over the past decade, for many SME house builders, development finance has been difficult to access. Although there have been improvements in this picture in recent years, nearly half of SME house builders still view lack of access to finance as a major constraint on their ability to build new homes. We will continue to work with the Government and UK Finance to identify ways to improve this situation by enabling lenders to lend more to this sector. “However, it is also the case that the process of obtaining development finance can be complex and difficult to navigate, especially for new entrants or those without recent experience of the market. It is important that SME builders and developers understand what to expect when seeking development finance, the options available and the process they will go through. That is what this guide is designed to achieve and we are really pleased to have joined forces with UK Finance to develop some practical advice for builders. We believe it will open doors and play a part in helping more new homes get built.” Small Business Minister Kelly Tolhurst said: “Smaller house builders in particular face challenges accessing the finance they need and this new guide provides useful, practical information on the available options that will help them build the homes the country needs. “As part of our modern Industrial Strategy, the Government is working with the construction sector to boost skills and foster modern building techniques to help the sector reach its full potential.”