Stunning Lakeland low carbon housing development shortlisted for two awards

A PIONEERING low carbon housing development in the heart of the Lake District has been shortlisted for two prestigious construction awards.

Yewdale Road in Coniston, Cumbria, will compete for both Cumbria Project of the Year at the North West Regional Construction Awards 2022 and Best Affordable Housing Development (less than £5m) at the National Inside Housing Development Awards 2022. Castles & Coasts Housing Association’s (CCHA) development delivered seven attractive new homes in the heart of the Lake District National Park.

The development was built over 12 months, starting during lockdown, and has provided attractive, new, affordable homes for the village, with all properties offered for rent, delivering a much-needed boost to an area where affordable housing is scarce. It is part of CCHA’s aspiration to build 120 affordable homes each year, across the North of England.

Rob Brittain, CCHA’s Property Services Director, said: “I’m delighted that this exciting development, which has been delivered with such sensitivity in one of the country’s most beautiful settings, has caught the imagination of the judges.

“CCHA is working hard across the Lake District National Park and beyond, to ensure affordable housing is more readily available to support a range of families. As a result, schemes like this are vitally important to sustaining local communities.

“Yewdale Road represents a real “local effort”, with Cumbria based skills utilised to devise, design and deliver the project.”

CCHA partnered with a team of local consultants and contractors, Architects Plus, Cubby Construction Ltd, RG Parkins and Elliotts Associates, to build these new homes, which were supported with funding from Homes England.

The 2 and 3 bedroom homes were built in a traditional Lake District design and are equipped with innovative environmentally friendly features. The scheme exceeds the Lake District National Park Authority’s Planning Policy, which requires a minimum 10% offset of predicted carbon emissions with low or zero carbon technology. The project delivered an actual offset close to 40%, realised with the inclusion of solar PV roof panels, alongside smart battery storage and electric vehicle charging points, achieving an A rating on the Energy Performance Certificate.

CCHA’s Land & Acquisition Manager, Andrew Wilkinson, said: “The Lake District offers some of the most beautiful landscapes in the UK, and this development was designed to complement the outstanding natural beauty that surrounds it.

“Yewdale Road is a fantastic development that has created attractive, environmentally friendly properties. They deliver space, comfort, attractiveness and all of the luxuries of modern living, whilst providing much needed affordable homes for the local community.”

The North West Regional Construction Awards take place on July 21 and the Inside Housing Development Awards take place on September 30.