Platform Housing Group, the largest landlord in the Midlands, is celebrating a shortlisting at the upcoming Midlands Residential Property Awards for its scheme in the Peak District National Park.

The site at Colonel Wright Close in Bakewell was finished last summer after some 10 years of hard work by the group and its partners in the planning and local authorities.

One of a very small number of affordable schemes in the area, the development of 30 homes was completed using stone from the local quarry to sit in keeping with the beautiful natural area. 

Platform are one of Homes England’s strategic partners and the project is viewed as a great example of what can be achieved by the housing sector.

“Well done to Platform and its partners for delivering a truly fantastic scheme. It’s a visually stunning scheme delivering high quality housing in an area of outstanding beauty and with high demand for affordable housing. This is a great result for the local community,” said Tom Hawley, Head of Affordable Housing at Homes England.

Local residents have been delighted with the results, enabling them to afford to stay in the town where they grew up, which saw one of the highest rises in house prices in the UK during the last two years.

“We’ve got specific purposes to conserve the area, but we also have a duty to look after our communities. With Colonel Wright Close, we’ve formed some really strong partnerships and even though we have different agendas, in terms of the constraints we’ve got, this is a fantastic achievement,” added Brian Taylor, head of planning at the Peak District National Park Authority.

The developer for the scheme was Lindum Group. A spokesperson said: “The scheme took more than a decade to come to fruition and the nomination is recognition of the hard work and dedication by our client, Platform Housing. A lot of care and attention was put into ensuring the homes were built to maintain the look of the area and our construction team worked with local planners to agree material selections. This involved producing sample panels of stonework and render to prove the quality of the products. We also liaised with the local quarry to ensure stone supplies would be readily available.  The final result is a development of much-needed homes in a beautiful part of the country and it would be fantastic if the scheme was crowned winner on the night. “

“This just shows how a small site can have a huge impact on the area and the community. To have such a beautiful scheme that provides much needed affordable housing in the town makes us very proud. I’d like to thank all the partners that worked so hard over a long period of time to help achieve this,” concluded Group Chief Executive at Platform Elizabeth Froude.

The awards take place on June 23^rd at the Eastside Rooms in Birmingham where Platform has also been shortlisted for the Social Housing Award.

Property & Development Magazine | The Home of Residential Sector News

Bellway has completed the purchase of land from Homes England in Milton Keynes, where it will adopt new building technology for the first time in the UK, speeding up the build process at Tattenhoe Park development.

Bellway will build 160 homes using Modern Methods of Construction on the 9.2-acre parcel of land at Tattenhoe Park. This will include 40 modular homes and 120 homes built using timber frame panels.

The housebuilder was selected to develop the site at Tattenhoe Park as part of a Homes England pilot project to speed up the delivery of new homes.

The build programme will be completed within two years of work starting.

Paul Smits, Managing Director of Bellway Northern Home Counties, said: “Bellway is committed to exploring innovative ways of delivering new homes more quickly and more sustainably. Tattenhoe Park is therefore a key project for the company, and for the community in Milton Keynes.

“Using Modern Methods of Construction will offer benefits beyond speeding up construction. The modular homes, which are built off-site, and the timber frame panels, which replace traditional breeze blocks, are produced in a controlled factory environment. This ensures consistent quality and removes any negative impact from weather conditions.

“Both methods improve energy efficiency by creating a more airtight home, and timber is a more sustainable material than brick. The modern processes also reduce the amount of waste produced in the build process.

“We have worked with Homes England and with our partners to ensure we can build these homes to the highest standards, for which Bellway is known as a HBF Five Star Builder.

“The end result will be a new community which looks comparable with Bellway’s other developments in the area, while delivering these additional benefits to the customer, the community and the environment.”

The project is one of a series being led by Homes England with the ambition of delivering 1,800 new homes across the country using a variety of modern construction methods.

Bellway’s 160 homes will form phase four of the wider Tattenhoe Park development.

Bellway will partner with ilke Homes to deliver the 40 modular homes. Stewart Milne Timber Systems will supply the timber frame panels for the remaining 120 homes.

The homes at Bellway’s Tattenhoe Park development will be a range of one and two-bedroom apartments, one and two-bedroom maisonettes and two to four-bedroom houses. The 48 affordable homes will be divided between rental and shared ownership, and there will be a selection of wheelchair accessible properties.

Bellway secured planning consent for the development at the end of 2021 and expects to start work on site by the summer.

Bellway’s Northern Home Counties division is based in Milton Keynes. The division is already building homes at Wavendon View and Wavendon Chase on the outskirts of Wavendon, and is set to launch a new development at Whitehouse Park in Milton Keynes later this year.