Member Article

Affordable homes for Durham Village

The drive to provide affordable homes for rent and sale in Durham has been boosted by Isos Housing, which is developing ten more properties in the former pit village of Esh Winning.

All for rent, the two and three bedroom houses will be near the recently completed College View development. Construction, part funded by the Homes and Communities Agency, is underway and the first tenants could move in by Christmas.

Lea Smith, development and regeneration manager with Isos, said: “With the current state of the economy and household finances under pressure, we are delighted to be delivering more homes in the village. The addition of 10 more properties to our stock will help meet the ever increasing challenge of providing sufficient affordable homes in the region.”

The project is part of the village master plan, commissioned by the Durham Villages Regeneration Company, which has so far created 60 new homes in Esh Winning - nine bungalows behind the former Co-op store, managed by the Durham Aged Miners’ Housing Association (DAMHA); a mixture of eight private homes and 22 managed by DAMHA and Isos at College View and a development of 21 homes for sale at Oak Green.

The latest Isos homes will take this figure to 70 and a further 84 homes for sale, for which planning permission has been granted, will complete the £15 million regeneration initiative in the village.

DVRC is a partnership between Durham County Council and regeneration specialist Keepmoat. Over the past 12 years it has driven a £100 million plus investment programme, delivering over 1,000 homes - of which approximately 25% have been for rent or shared ownership. Through land deals and profit sharing this has generated more than £20 million for investment in community initiatives.

The homes for sale have attracted local buyers, keeping communities together. On average 55% of all DVRC sales have been to people living within 10 miles. However they have also brought new residents to old villages, providing a kick start to local economies and filling empty places in schools.

Cllr. Neil Foster, Durham County Council Cabinet member for economic regeneration and Chairman of DVRC, said: “The regeneration of this area is extremely important and providing housing which will bring younger families into Esh Winning is essential. A tremendous effort has gone into ensuring that the village will be restored to its full potential and I am extremely proud of the hard work carried out by all involved.”

Richard Bass, Managing Director, New Build, with Keepmoat North East and a DVRC board member, commented: “This is a further example of how this public private partnership is changing the prospects of former mining villages, helping them to restore pride and purpose after several difficult decades.”

Alongside the housing developments the Esh Winning Primary School has been completely remodelled, providing a high quality learning environment for 270 pupils from years one to six (aged five to 11), plus a 39 place nursery and community facilities, including a library and rooms for local groups and training initiatives.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Paul Dobbie .