Together Housing alongside Esh Construction and partners have celebrated the completion of a ground-breaking social housing project in Halifax, Calderdale.
To mark the anticipated completion of the Beech Hill regeneration project, the northern based social housing association, North of England contractor, Esh Construction and Calderdale Council came together within the community to celebrate the four years of close partnership working.
Beech Hill is a social housing project that has been established to address the demand for housing in the area. The completed development emerged following the demolition of three derelict tower blocks to make way for the dual-phased scheme comprising 106 new affordable homes and the delivery of external envelope repairs and energy efficiency improvements to 70 mixed tenure homes on the adjacent site.
To meet a diverse need for housing in the local area, 106 two, three, four, and five-bedroomed homes have been built on site by Esh. Five of these homes are fully wheelchair accessible and all properties are energy efficient, rated B.
Properties on Phase 2 of the development benefit from energy efficiency improvements, including new pitched roofs and rainwater goods, insulated cladding, new windows and doors along with new boundary treatments. Over a third of the homes with viable roof space also benefited from solar photovoltaic panels.
The site has been awarded Residential Development of the Year (More Than 100 Homes) at the Insider Yorkshire Property Industry Awards in 2022 and named Partnering Scheme of the Year at the Northern Housing Awards in 2023.
The Beech Hill redevelopment scheme was also a key project delivered by The Calderdale and Together Housing Investment Partnership (CTHIP), established in 2017 to help address the housing crisis by delivering approximately 650 affordable homes across Calderdale over a five-year period (2018 – 2023).
The dual phased scheme benefited from investment from Calderdale Council, THG, the Government’s Getting Building Fund via the West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) and the Government Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Estate Regeneration. The scheme has also been made possible thanks to funding from Homes England and WYCA through the Leeds City Region Growth Deal.
Patrick Berry, Executive Director of Property at Together Housing said: “The anticipated completion of the Beech Hill redevelopment programme comes at a time when we’re seeing a growing demand for affordable homes in the country. We’re proud to have delivered on our aim to respond to this growing need and of the synergistic partnership with Calderdale Council, Esh Construction and The West Yorkshire Combined Authority which helped make our plans a reality. Throughout this project, Beech Hill has continuously developed into what we now see as a thriving, diverse community and one we hope to see for generations to come.”