The construction of 68 new affordable homes in a rural North Yorkshire village is now underway.
Housing association Karbon Homes has partnered with affordable homes builder Adderstone Living to begin work on the new homes in East Cowton, a development the community hopes will help sustain the village’s local economy and services.
The new homes will consist of one, two, three and four-bedroom properties, all of which are being built to the highest energy efficiency standards using a highly sustainable timber frame construction method. The homes will benefit from solar PV panels and be powered by air source heat pumps.
Zoey Hawthorne, Assistant Director of Development Delivery at Karbon Homes, said: “It’s great to see work starting on site, an exciting project which will bring much needed new housing to the community. As is common with rural villages like East Cowton, the limited housing investment over the years has resulted in a decline of new people moving to the area. We hope these new homes, designed to meet the needs of young people and families wanting to move to the village, will help combat the issues and in turn help the community thrive.”
Marking the start of works on site, colleagues from Karbon and Adderstone Living were joined by the Chairman of East Cowton Parish Council Councillor Elaine Simpson, and Vice-Chairman Councillor Jane Green.
Councillor Simpson said: “Many of our younger generation have moved away from the village since housing in the area is not affordable for them. This new development offers a range of properties, both in design and affordability, to appeal to professional couples and new and returning families.
It will ensure that we sustain and grow our local population so that the village continues to flourish, providing a healthy attendance at our school as well as sustaining our local economy and services. The scheme is a very welcome development for the future of East Cowton.”
Seven of the new homes will be available for Social Rent, 15 for Affordable Rent and the remainder for affordable home ownership options, seven for Shared Ownership and 39 for Rent to Buy. The Rent to Buy scheme allows customers to rent before they buy and, as the rents are set at 20% less than local market rent, this offers the opportunity to save towards a deposit.
Stephen McCoy, Director of Adderstone Living, said: “This is a special scheme for Adderstone Living. We have been working on this through planning for some time and it is great to now see it started on site. The support of the Parish Council and Karbon Homes throughout has been key to the successful planning outcome.”
The development will feature improved site access with a new road layout, with 40% of the overall site area kept as open space to retain the existing rural character. Infrastructure works on site will also help improve historic issues of flooding in the village, due to poor surface water drainage, with a new sewage mains solution alleviating pressure on the village pumping station.
The development has been part funded through Karbon’s strategic partnership with Homes England, which in 2021 provided the housing association with £165m in funding to deliver 2,200 new affordable homes across the North East and Yorkshire by 2026. Karbon has committed to delivering 10% of these new homes in rural communities such as East Cowton.
The first phase of new homes is targeted for completion by late 2025. On completion, the new homes will be managed by 54North Homes, a Yorkshire based subsidiary of the Karbon Homes group.
