THE first homes in a popular North East town to hit a high environmental standard have been given the seal of approval by a special visitor.
Pat Ritchie, Chief Executive of the Government’s Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), the national body providing funding for affordable housing across the country, saw first-hand how Southdale and Tees Valley Housing are helping meet housing need in Darlington on Friday 16 September 2011.
Mrs Ritchie visited the impressive range of properties which are now taking shape at the £14m Woodland View development in the town, which plays host to a range of options to help people own a home of their own.
The scheme is being built with the help of £4m of funding from the Homes and Communities Agency.
“We are pleased to support Tees Valley Housing in providing quality homes on this excellent site,” said Pat Ritchie. “The scheme will help to set a new standard for green living in Darlington, as well as offering a range of affordable options to buy or rent.”
A total of 106 properties are being built on the site of the former Beaumont Hill School in the Harrowgate Hill area of the town. The scheme provides a mixture of high specification two, three and four bedroom houses in a number of styles, offering an affordable option for people who may feel that home ownership is out of reach. A number of homes for rent are also available.
Purchase options include outright sale and the new option of rent now, buy later - the first time it has been offered in Darlington - which means purchasers can rent the home for lower than market rent, whilst saving up for a deposit to buy the property outright.
Southdale is building six homes to level five of the Code for Sustainable Homes – the first housing in Darlington to meet this demanding target. These houses will be carefully oriented to catch the sun, maximising the efficiency of photovoltaic cells and solar panels on the rooftops, with energy-efficient boilers and high quality insulation adding further cost savings for the occupier and helping reduce CO2 emissions.
The other 100 properties will be built to code level three, meaning they will also benefit from hitting high energy efficiency standards
Doug Ross, managing director of Tees Valley Housing, said: “We are thrilled to welcome the chief executive of the HCA to this development to see the work we are doing to offer a range of options to people in Darlington with the help of HCA funding.
“As a housing organisation, we are not just about properties for rent, we also want to make sure we are flexible to give people the chance to become homeowners, even in these difficult times.
“This site has a range of tailored products and expert advice and the imminent opening of our show home means people will be able to see the space and contemporary features on offer.”
Paul Moore, managing director of Southdale added: “Southdale is delighted to work in partnership with Tees Valley Housing on this high profile development in Darlington.
“Southdale has been building and retrofitting homes to code level five for a number of years and are excited about using our expertise and knowledge to deliver high quality and sustainable housing which will meet Government targets.
“The technology employed throughout this development will most certainly help to reduce fuel bills for the occupier making this a highly sought after place to live.”
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