Award winning developer Redrow is bringing its newly launched New Heritage Collection to Halifax – the house builder’s first development in the town for several years.
Detailed planning permission has been granted for 89 new homes on the 6.5 acre site of the former Sykes Mill, in Keighley Road, Ovenden, which Redrow has acquired from sister company and remediation specialist Harrow Estates.
A substantial part of the development has received Government funding via the ‘Kickstart’ programme, which is designed to bring forward much needed affordable housing and also accelerate the building of other private sale homes.
The Keighley Road scheme will have 30 properties available through HomeBuy Direct, which allows purchasers with an annual household income less than £60,000 to take out an equity loan for up to 30% of the initial purchase price. Jointly funded by Redrow and the Homes & Communities Agency, this equity loan is interest free for the first five years. There will also be 11 properties for social rent.
Most recently used as a bed and mattress manufacturing unit, the Keighley Road site has been cleared and prepared for residential development by Harrow.
Redrow is now gearing up to build 72 two, three and four-bedroom houses and 17 apartments, with designs based on its New Heritage Collection but using stone finishes to reflect the local surroundings. The traditional exteriors of Redrow’s New Heritage Collection are very much influenced by the Arts and Crafts movement of the late 1800s and early 1900s, but inside they will boast a specification that meets all the requirements for 21st century living.
John Grime, regional director of Redrow Homes (Yorkshire), said: “Our New Heritage Collection has just been launched UK-wide to critical acclaim and one of the first developments to display the new homes is our Saxon Court venture in Sherburn in Elmet, North Yorkshire.
“We’re keen to roll it out across all parts of Yorkshire as soon as possible and are delighted to have got planning consent for the Halifax scheme. We’re also looking to acquire additional sites across the region where we can build more of these traditional looking, primarily family homes.”
One of the most popular and enduring of domestic architectural styles, the Arts and Crafts influence can be seen in many so-called ‘character’ homes from later periods, especially the 1920s and 1930s.
Just as the Arts and Crafts era grew from the desire to bring back the skill and creativity of the individual craftsman and revive the simplicity and honesty in the way buildings and furnishings were made, Redrow has deliberately set out to reintroduce a high degree of individuality to the way its homes look and feel.
John adds: “Some of the architectural influences, styles, shapes, colours and textures reflected in the Arts and Crafts movement have been brought right up to date with high-specification interiors styled for modern living. At Halifax, we’ll also be incorporating some stone finishes to reflect the local vernacular.”
External features which typify the era and will be seen in varying degrees on the Halifax homes include dropped eaves, projecting plinths, bays and other distinctive window styles, often with leaded lights, timber or tiled canopies over doors and windows, supported by decorative gallows brackets, and the use of larch lap boarding as a feature. Front door colours will also reflect the ‘heritage’ feel, including ‘Brunswick’ green, deep burgundy and rich dark blue.
Redrow’s scheme will include an area of open space and existing trees adjacent to Bryant Avenue will be retained. As part of the planning agreement, a financial contribution will also be made towards local measures to generate employment.
See Also: Property News (0), New Heritage Collection (0), Redrow Homes (0), Halifax (0)
Date Published: 28 April 2010
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