EN:Able Build’s first housing development to go on site in early 2019, was completed by contractor Hobson and Porter at the end of the year, with families moved in to 24 new homes, 11 2-bedroom and 13 3-bedroom.
The site on Hawkins Close was initially earmarked for a development of homes for private sale but with the average house in East Midlands eight times the average salary, this would have excluded the people most in need of housing.
The scheme was stuck in planning for 6 years before EN:Able Build successfully diverted it into affordable housing.
EN:Able Build value engineered a previously non-viable scheme development through smarter construction detailing and mitigation of substantial HV service diversion abnormal costs. In addition, the site topography was re-profiled in order to reduce steps and hard landscaping. Working together, EN:Able Build, Together Housing and Hobson & Porter made a non-viable scheme viable.
Keith MacFarlane, Head of Project Management, Together Housing Group, said, “According to research released by the National Housing Federation, the average home in Doncaster is over six times the mean annual salary. The average worker in the area would need a 42% pay rise to be able to afford a mortgage. So it is fantastic that this stalled site, which originally planned homes for private sale, will now be made available for affordable rent, providing good quality affordable homes in this neighbourhood.”
Richard Hunter, Managing Director of Hobson Porter, said, “It has been a difficult piece of land to build on. But now complete, it brings opportunities to families to live in affordable housing, which might otherwise have not existed. We are passionate about social value and lasting legacy and developing skills for the future – this collaboration ticks all those boxes.”
Hilary Brady, Head of Development at Together Housing Group, said, " We are delighted to be the first housing association to deliver a land-led housing scheme under the EN:Build programme. The site was destined for homes for sale on the open market but this collaboration has enabled us to provide good quality affordable homes for people who otherwise might not have been able to access one."