Together Housing celebrate completion of ground-breaking new affordable homes in Halifax

Together Housing Group have marked the anticipated completion of the Beech Hill regeneration scheme in Halifax by bringing together strategic partners to celebrate in the community.

The development followed the demolition of three derelict tower blocks to make way for the dual-phased scheme comprising 106 two, three, four, and five-bedroomed new affordable homes and the delivery of external envelope repairs and energy efficiency improvements to 70 mixed tenure homes on the adjacent site.  Five of the new homes are fully wheelchair accessible and all homes are energy efficient, rated B.

Homes in 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 PV panels.

The site won Residential Development of the Year (More Than 100 Homes) at the Insider Yorkshire Property Industry Awards 2022 and Partnering Scheme of the Year at the Northern Housing Awards 2023.

The 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.

Esh Construction were appointed to construct the £16.5m scheme by Direct Selection through EN:Procure’s New Build Framework.  To clear the way for this development, Together Housing Group used EN:Procure’s Asbestos & Demolition Framework to appoint Rhodar as demolition contractor and The Testing Lab as specialist asbestos consultants to demolish 3 tower blocks between June 2018 and August 2019.  The Employer’s agent and designer SDA were also procured through EN:Procure’s Consultancy Framework.

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.”

Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire said: “Having a safe and secure place to live is a fundamental right, so I’m delighted to hear that over 100 families have settled into their new, affordable homes in Beech Hill, Calderdale.

“This is part of our regional mission to deliver thousands more affordable and sustainable homes across West Yorkshire. By building the high quality and energy efficient homes that we need, we’ll reduce household energy bills and deliver a greener, more secure region for future generations.”

Cllr Scott Patient, Calderdale Council’s Cabinet Member for Climate Action and Housing, said: “Reaching this landmark moment in the Beech Hill transformation is an amazing achievement for all the organisations and local people involved.

“Together, we have realised the longstanding ambition to create a thriving area, to help make life better for residents and provide good-quality, affordable homes within walking distance of Halifax town centre, which are warmer, more energy-efficient and cheaper to run. Through this ground-breaking project, we can see the Council’s priorities for reduced inequalities, climate action and thriving towns being delivered.”

Simon Woodward, Operations Director at Esh Construction, said: “Redeveloping this site and providing much-needed new, high quality homes for the community has been very rewarding. A number of challenges have been overcome throughout the project, particularly those presented by the topography of the land with the lower site lying 20 metres below the upper site. This resulted in extensive remediation and enabling works being undertaken, as well as retaining systems being installed. We’re proud of the final result and look forward to working with Together Housing again in the future.”

Emma Mottram, Director of Operations at EN:Procure said: “This was a challenging site so it is great to see the project completed successfully – this is testament to the power of collaborative working. We are very proud that EN:Procure was involved in the procurement of the consultancy, demolition and residential contractors. Well done to everybody involved.”