Top 60: Non Grant-Funded Developments of the Year
Inside Housing is showcasing the best 60 developments of the last year. Our list is split into 10 categories of excellence which we will reveal over the next few weeks. Michael Atherton reports on the best non grant-funded developments of the year
A word from Inside Housing
“You can’t build subsidised housing without some form of subsidy.”
This has been the age-old maxim frequently espoused by sector leaders at nearly every event in the social housing calendar. While it’s still true, massive funding cuts over the past five years have led social landlords to adapt
and find their subsidy from sources other than the government.
One of the first things the coalition did upon forming government was to slash grant funding by 60% and completely cease funding social rented development for the first time in the history of the welfare state.
Instead, reduced grant levels were offered on the condition that higher, ‘affordable’ rents were charged at up to 80% of the market rate.
Landlords have had to make the best of a bad situation. Many have commendably pushed on with development - in the last programme associations invested £15bn of their own money into building 217,000 affordable homes.
To continue building genuinely affordable homes and fill the funding gap, many have cross-subsidised by selling more homes for market sale and reinvesting the profits.
The schemes shortlisted here are therefore a mix of tenures and have often only been made possible by innovative financing solutions. Each one of them is testament to social landlords’ enduring commitment to delivering excellence and meeting housing need - whatever challenges are laid in their path.
Nick Duxbury, executive editor, Inside Housing
The judges
- Brendan Sarsfield, chief executive, Family Mosaic, and chair, G15
- Robert Grundy, head of housing, Savills
- John Hocking, executive director, Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust
The judges will choose an overall winner in this category, to be announced on Friday 16 October in London
Windsor Avenue
“The scheme adopted a mixed tenure approach alongside a tenure blind approach to quality of design.”
John Hocking, executive director, Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust
Number of homes in development: 107
Cost: £10m
The scheme: Built on the site of a disused factory in Peterborough which once assembled parts for the Titanic and World War II Spitfires, Windsor Avenue is made up of 107 new two, three and four-bedroom homes to rent or buy through a variety of homeownership schemes.
Longhurst Group managed the project on behalf of L&H Homes, its subsidiary. Funding came through a £250m bond, with an additional £230,000 in capital funding grant from Peterborough Council.
Of the 107 homes in the development, 85 were built by L&H Homes (33 intermediate rent including 13 units made possible by the capital funding grant, 13 shared ownership, 12 deferred equity and 27 market rent).
Private developer Westleigh Homes built the 22 other homes on the site.
Chyvelah Close
“A model for other village extensions of mixed tenure housing.”
John Hocking, executive director, Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust
Number of homes in development: 21
Cost: £770,500
The scheme: Chyvelah Close in the village of Threemilestone is made up of 21 homes (three shared ownership, four affordable rent, 14 open market). The open market homes have cross subsidised the delivery of the seven affordable houses, making this a grant-free scheme.
The two-storey houses by DCH are typical of homes in Cornish villages. A ‘home zone’ design in the development gives pedestrians priority over drivers.
The site has open views towards the east, but is screened from neighbouring properties to the west by mature hedgerow. The development preserved the hedgerow ecology and trees, choosing surfacing materials that protect tree roots.
Fulbourn Phase 2b
“You can feel the energy in this project: hard work to get support from various partners and then taking commercial risk to turn into homes. Housing associations at their best.”
Brendan Sarsfield, chief executive, Family Mosaic, and chair, G15
Number of homes in development: 79
Cost: £11m
The scheme: The completion of these 79 homes marks the final phase in the regeneration of the Windmill Estate by Accent Group, and its transformation into The Swifts.
Made up of 46 market sale, 13 shared ownership, 19 social rent and one Right to Buy reprovision, the scheme was funded by 19,000-home Accent through receipts on the market sale and shared ownership homes.
Lygon Court and Post Office
“An imaginative rural scheme which delivered affordable housing and preserved the village shop and post office.”
John Hocking, executive director, Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust
Number of homes in development: 3
Cost: £630,000
The scheme: Three homes make up Lygon Court in Cromhall, a village in rural South Gloucestershire. This small development gave a permanent home to the post office, a much valued community resource, and added three new social rent homes to a village where the last affordable property was built more than 50 years ago.
School pupils named the development after some Doomsday Book research, which was mostly funded by 8,400-home Merlin Housing Society. South Gloucestershire Council provided a further £100,000 of funding, and sold the land to Merlin for £1.
There are just 21 social housing properties in this village of 279 households.
Newbury Racecourse
“Hats off to the racecourse, developer and housing association for making this happen. Getting other sectors to include residential development on their commercial patch is difficult.”
Brendan Sarsfield, chief executive, Family Mosaic, and chair, G15
Number of homes in development: 421
Cost: £324m
The scheme: Newbury Racecourse utilises land at a major sporting venue. In three phases over 10 years, it will deliver 1,500 new homes. So far, 421 have been built. Of these, 87 are social rent and 40 are shared ownership.
New homes range from contemporary trackside apartments and executive houses to townhouses in traditional crescents and squares. The development was built by a partnership of 38,000-home housing association Sovereign and the racecourse.
Railton Place
“Imaginative use and respect for the history of the site running through the development, including the play area. An attractive sustainable design and a clear focus on reducing running costs is backed up by excellent resident information.”
John Hocking, executive director, Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust
Number of homes in development: 48
Cost: £8m
The scheme: Weybridge is one of the most expensive postcodes in the UK, but this is the location for Paragon’s Railton Place development, made up of 24 homes for social rent and 24 shared ownership apartments.
Named after the Napier-Railton racing car, the development revived a contaminated conservation area next to Brooklands’ historic motor racing circuit and restored the competitors’ tunnel (once used by drivers to enter the track) offering residents a glimpse of racing history. The land had previously suffered from years of neglect and was blighted by fly tipping, land contamination and vandalism.
The roof design and materials reflect the swept wing design of the aircraft that were historically built and flown at Brooklands.
