Council completes first phase of affordable housing programme

Doncaster Council, with the help of its partners, has made positive strides on its pledge to build affordable homes across the city.

£100million was allocated for the Council House Build Programme by Mayor Ros Jones in 2021, as part of the new Housing Strategy 2020-25 and the Housing Delivery Plan covering that period.

The first phase of this round of the CHBP began in early 2022 across three sites and was completed in April 2023 by contractors Willmott Dixon.

In total 33 new affordable rented homes have been constructed. They include:

• Twenty-one 2-4 bedroom properties (Adwick Lane, Toll Bar) • Seven 2-3 bedroom properties (Appleby Road, Intake) • Five 2-3 bedroom properties (Athlestane Crescent, Edenthorpe)

Cllr Glyn Jones, Deputy Mayor & Portfolio holder for Housing & Business, said: “It is great to reach this landmark stage in the development of our Housing Strategy and the Housing Delivery Plan. This is just the start with more than 500 new homes planned over the next five years.

“We are making a tangible difference to hundreds of Doncaster residents by building quality homes, which are ready to be occupied.

“These homes include the latest energy saving features to address climate change and to make them very affordable to keep warm and are built to meet the needs and wants of residents. We are leading the way on high standards on the council homes building front.”

The quality social housing developments are a mix of bungalows and family homes using award winning designs from the council’s in-house architects. A key focus is sustainability with features included to make them energy efficient, cost effective for the tenants to run and supporting efforts to reduce carbon emissions helping to tackle the Climate Emergency declared in the borough in September 2019.

The homes have been built by using traditional construction methods with a focus on the latest energy efficiency regulations. All homes have solar photovoltaic (PV) panels installed and the panels sit within the roof tiles, providing green energy as standard for the tenants. Furthermore, better under-floor insulation and electric vehicle charging points have been included on all new homes to reinforce the sustainability credentials of the developments.

The homes are designed in line with the South Yorkshire Residential Design Guide along with generous gardens.

The homes are also designed to National Space Standards providing good size rooms and provide generous natural daylight.

All properties are designed with accessibility in mind and ease of future adaptations. For example: a shower tray and fittings are embedded in the downstairs bathroom to aid future conversions for later living. First floor properties have a ‘knock-out’ section of a bedroom wall to allow a door between it and the bathroom and the ceiling above reinforced to take a hoist.

Nick Heath, director at Willmott Dixon, said: “We’re delighted to be celebrating the handover of these homes on Adwick Lane in Doncaster. After working with the Council to deliver over 400 new homes in recent years, we have built strong relationships in the area and continue to help meet the growing housing needs of the local community. As with all our schemes, we aim to leave a positive lasting impact on the communities we work within. Throughout this project, we have delivered social value through initiatives to enhance social, economic and environmental wellbeing for residents, such as providing work experience, charity work, apprenticeships for young people and bettering energy efficiency standards, as well as getting involved with local schools.”

Dave Richmond, Chief Executive of St Leger Homes, said: “I am delighted that St Leger Homes is managing this new housing development on behalf of City of Doncaster Council. These attractive properties will make a real difference for our city by providing more high quality, affordable homes where local people can have a great quality of life.”

Phase 2 of the CHBP will begin shortly with 123 new affordable homes delivered across seven different sites in Doncaster.