The first residents are preparing to move in to a new eco-friendly, affordable housing scheme which will provide homes for local people on the outskirts of Thirsk.
And the innovative scheme attracted praise from local MP Kevin Hollinrake during a visit which took place prior to the start of national Rural Housing Week, which this year is themed around levelling up in rural communities.
Broadacres, working with developing partner EQUANS, is building 97 new homes at Sowerby Gateway, with the keys to the first ten properties set to be handed over to people by the end of July.
All 97 homes are affordable, energy efficient and will be heated using Air Source Heat Pump (ASHP) technology – marking the first time Broadacres has used renewable energy on a scheme where a gas connection is available.
There will be 59 homes for affordable rent and 38 for shared ownership, providing people with a local connection to the area with the opportunity to get a foot on the property ladder.
There is also a mixture of homes to benefit a cross section of people, including one-bedroom flats, two-bedroom bungalows, family homes and adapted bungalows for people with disabilities.
Before the start of Rural Housing Week on 4th July, Thirsk and Malton MP Kevin Hollinrake accepted an invitation from Broadacres Chief Executive Gail Teasdale to view the new homes.
Kevin said: “It’s exciting to see such high quality, energy efficiency homes being built, and which will be offered to local people at affordable levels.
“The current cost of living is throwing up difficult challenges for people so anything which can ease this burden is welcome and homes for discounted sale and rent with low running costs will certainly help this.”
Gail said: “We’re pleased to be close to welcoming the first residents to this innovative scheme which will provide a range of homes for local people and create a new community in this part of Sowerby.
“We could have chosen to connect the homes to the existing gas network but as part of our drive to achieve net carbon status by 2050 we made the conscious decision to use renewable energy, and this is now the blueprint for all new homes we build in the future.
“As a rural housing provider, we’re committed to making communities sustainable for future generations by building affordable, energy efficiency homes.”
Air source heat pumps extract heat energy from the air in order to warm homes and provide hot water. As well as being environmentally friendly, they are significantly more efficient than traditional heating systems.
Rural Housing Week, which runs from 4th to 8th July, is an annual campaign showcasing the work housing associations do in rural communities. This year’s main theme is levelling up rural communities.
www.housing.org.uk/our-work/rural-housing/rural-housing-week
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