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Huddersfield green homes unveiled

Posted: 24/11/2006

The future of eco-friendly living has been unveiled in Huddersfield by Yorkshire Housing Group, the region’s largest social housing provider. The £7.5m ground-breaking development at Primrose Hill, which was part financed by a £3m Housing Corporation grant, has been designed and built using renewable timber and recycled building materials sourced from local suppliers to keep carbon emissions to a minimum.

The new development includes the UK’s largest domestic installation of solar power and provides residents with free and environmentally friendly electricity and hot water. Primrose Hill is one of several solar energy projects coordinated by Kirklees Environment Unit, which makes up around 5% of the UK’s total solar energy output.

The solar scheme received over £500,000 of funding from the UK’s Department of Trade and Industry, the European Union as well as Kirklees Energy Fund, Kirklees Neighbourhood Housing and Yorkshire Housing Group. The development has also achieved ‘Very Good’ and ‘Excellent’ status as part of the national Ecohomes Standard making it one of the best examples of sustainable living in the UK.

The public is also invited to view Primrose Hill from 1pm to 7pm as part of a day of celebrations marking the launch of such a futuristic development. Representatives from Yorkshire Metropolitan Housing, Kirklees Neighbourhood Housing and Kirklees Federation of Tenants & Residents Association will be on hand to provide information for visitors.

Yorkshire Housing Group’s Development Project Manager, Jimm Reed, says: “The most exciting thing about the homes at Primrose Hill is their sustainability. We have all heard about climate change, an everybody knows how expensive gas and electricity is becoming. With this in mind, the new homes at Ridge Street and Ridge Close are designed to have minimum impact on the environment and to be as energy efficient as possible.”

He adds: “We looked at lots of ways to recycle and use ecological friendly components. The homes are extremely well insulated to help conserve precious heat in the winter months and the large solar panels on the roofs will provide free electricity and hot water for residents to help keep fuel bills down. Yorkshire Housing is extremely proud to be leading the way in eco-friendly housing.”

Special guests at the launch include competition winners Ellie Burnham, Aaron Noble and Megan Williams from StileCommon Junior School who will be accompanied by their headteacher, Mrs Haywood. The children helped design Primrose Hill’s communal garden and will see their ideas come to life as part of the sustainable development.

There are still some three and four bedroom houses remaining for sale for Shared Ownership. For further information please contact Space on 0113 2433142.

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