WHITE Horse Housing Association’s £2.8 million passive housing project received an overwhelming thumbs up when it was shown off at an open day.

The ten new homes at Hook Hollow in Seend Cleeve, which are due to be completed later this year, have been built to rigorous ‘passive haus’ standards – which mean they will be incredibly energy efficient, resulting in relatively lower costs for the new residents in a time of high energy prices.

White Horse Housing Association (WHHA) is the development’s main funder but it has also been partly funded by Homes England’s Affordable Homes Programme, together with a contribution from Wiltshire Council. The project has been run in partnership with Seend Community Land and Asset Trust. The homes were designed by PKA Architects of Potterne and built by Winsley White Builders of Radstock.

The land was made available by the Seend Community Land and Asset Trust in partnership with Seend Parish Council and was identified after a review of many potential sites and a public consultation. The land was bought by White Horse Housing Association and then sold to the community land and asset trust for £1 before being leased back to White Horse Housing Association for 995 years.

Members of the community land trust, WHHA’s tenant scrutiny panel, Seend Parish Council and other invited guests were welcomed for refreshments at the nearby Barge Inn before being taken round the development.

The development has four two-bedroomed, one three-bedroomed and two one bedroom homes for rent as well as  two  three-beds and one two-bed for shared ownership sale. Both the rental and the shared ownership homes will be occupied by families and people with a local connection.

The homes are constructed from pre-cut timber frames which were then assembled, insulated with sustainable wool and sealed with airtight wind and waterproof tape before the exterior was cladded. Thanks to this, and the triple-glazed windows, the homes are completely draught proof and will need just two modern Quantum storage heaters and a heated towel rail inside.

The size of the gardens, the views across the countryside and the layout of the development were among the compliments from the visitors.

WHHA Operations Manager Belinda Eastland said the open day was appreciated by the guests.

“The purpose of it was to go back to the community land trust members and to show them what their hard work, determination and commitment to that village had actually delivered.

“There will be another open day before our tenants move in but we just wanted them to see what's been going on in their community since we started the build a year ago.”

Community land trust chairman Steve Vaux said:

“It's satisfying to see it come together because it's a good example of a community-led development.

“I know of so many couples that have left the parish to start families and would have preferred to stay here. The rural life is a lifestyle choice really but for those folks who want to start a family who can't afford the property, it's not a lifestyle choice, it's an economic choice to move out of the parish.

“All we're trying to do is to service that need, that small amount of need.”

Among the guests at the open day were community land trust members Colin and Jo Waldeck, who celebrated their 56th wedding anniversary that day. He said:

“We really liked the houses, they looked well designed. They obviously fulfil a need, particularly for young people that can't afford houses in Seend.”

For more details about the housing association or to get in touch go to whitehorsehousing.co.uk.

More news from White Horse Housing Association:

Bats will be protected by housing association during major £600,000 refurbishment of village homes

A COLONY of bats who have made their home in a terrace of 150-year-old houses are being protected by White Horse Housing Association during a £600,000 refurbishment programme.

The bats were found in roof spaces of homes in Ammerdown Terrace, Kilmersdon, near Radstock during preparations for the major refurbishment programme, due to start this month. The work, which will include new roofs, better insulation, double glazing, new heating and solar panels, is aimed at raising the energy rating standards of the housing association’s 32 homes in the village.

The first phase of the work will be at a row of 15 two and three-bedroomed cottages in Ammerdown Terrace, just outside the Somerset village. The two and three bedroomed homes, which were built in 1872, will all have new double glazing to the front, internal ceiling, cavity wall and loft insulation. Solar roof panels will be installed to reduce heating costs and also divert any excess power generated to heat the water.

Steve Warran, the association’s chief executive said work was delayed while a licence to work around the bats were sought from Natural England.

“We’ve had some experts in to assess the colony and DNA testing has identified the long-eared, pipistrelle and serotine bat,” he said.

“We won’t be able to work between mid-November and March when the bats are hibernating but we’ll be keeping tenants fully informed about when we are carrying out the work to minimise the disruption.”

Homes that have not already had their heating upgraded will have a new smart, modern and energy-efficient electric storage heating system installed. Operations Director Belinda Eastland said:

“We first acquired these homes in 2015 and the only form of heating they had in them was multi-fuel burners which ran the back boiler for the central heating. The tenants had to get up in the morning and light the fire to get hot water and heating.

“The new Quantum storage system, which is far more modern and efficient than older storage heaters, it is programmable and cheap to run.”

Mrs Eastland said the work is essential to meet the government’s energy rating targets.

Tenant Maggy Large, who has lived in Ammerdown Terrace for 30 years, said she is looking forward to the improvements.

“It is going to be lovely,” she said. “I’m looking forward to having the solar panels and the double glazing and I’ll be really glad when it’s all done. White Horse Housing are looking after us very well.”

The cost of the work is being met by a £300,000 grant from the government’s Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund, with the rest being match-funded by White Horse Housing Association.

The housing association is taking advantage of the scaffolding that has been put up by replacing each roof in the terrace.

“We are investing up to £200,000 extra to replace the timbers, felt and slate tiles,” said Mrs Eastland. “So the programme is assisting us to do work that needed doing anyway.”

Since 2015 White Horse has invested more than £1 million into the village homes, including installing new bathrooms, heating systems, front doors, urgent roof repairs and insulation.

Prior to the start of the refurbishment the housing association has been consulting with tenants.

“We’re discussing timescales, when the work will start and how long it will go on for,” said Mrs Eastland.

“We’re listening to their views, acting on their suggestions where we possibly can and trying to fit in around them to do the work. It is our property but it is their home, which we respect and we appreciate they must be part of the process and have the opportunity to be consulted.

“We’ll also have people on site regularly to answer questions, we are working with the tenants to minimise the disruption but after this work is completed they will have very well insulated, much warmer homes that cost less to heat.”

For more details about the housing association or to get in touch go to whitehorsehousing.co.uk.

Praise for hero builders who tackled blaze as White Horse Housing Association welcomes first tenant at village development

HERO builders have been praised for rushing to the rescue of an elderly homeowner after her thatched cottage caught fire.

The builders, who were working on new homes for White Horse Housing Association at Hazel Green in Urchfont, spotted flames coming from the roof of a 200-year-old cottage next to the site. After calling the fire and rescue service, site manager Mark Hall and colleagues climbed over a 6ft fence to tackle the blaze with fire extinguishers.

White Horse Housing Association chair David Trethewey, speaking as the first of the association’s four homes were handed over to a tenant, praised the builders’ quick thinking. “What they did was very impressive and very resourceful,” he said.

Mr Hall, who works for developer Acorn Homes, said:

“I didn’t stop to think, I just wanted to make sure the lady and her two dogs got out. I could see the fire was well ablaze and then it went inside so we went inside the cottage and tried to keep it under control while the other lads were trying to contain the thatch fire until the fire brigade came.

“Unfortunately we only delayed the inevitable but at least whatever we did allowed the firefighters to get all of her possessions out.”

More than 60 firefighters tackled the fire, which gutted the property. Mr Hall said:

“I feel very sorry for the lady. I'd do it again because that's what I'm like, but I'll probably put something over my face next time as I suffered with the smoke.”

He and Mr Trethewey welcomed new tenant Claire White to her two-bedroom home when she collected her keys.

She said she had been desperate for somewhere and her six-year-old daughter Meredith to live after her landlord in Devizes decided to sell up.

“It is a nightmare, I have been searching for somewhere for a year,” she said.

“I tried to do shared ownership but you still had to have the deposit and the mortgage rates were just going up and up. I was going to rent again but I had been paying £925 a month in Devizes and anything similar was now costing £1,200.”

Miss White, who works as a catering assistant at The Trinity C of E Primary School in Devizes, said she applied to the housing association because her daughter’s father and grandmother live in Chirton and it aims to help people with local links live nearby. Her new monthly rent will be £658.

“I cried when I was told I had got this place, I was just so relieved,” she said. “It gives us some certainty and security. I’m just so grateful to White Horse Housing Association.”

It has one other rental home and two available for shared ownership purchase on the 13 home development. For more details about its homes go to whitehorsehousing.co.uk.