Setback for Whitby's £2.6m Carbon Neutral Affordable Housing Plan

Wednesday, 29 March 2023 06:00

By Matthew Pells with additional reporting from Anttoni James Numminen, Local Democracy Reporter

A two point six million pound project to build carbon-neutral housing in Whitby has stalled after one of the contractors withdrew from the scheme.

Plans to build sixty carbon neutral affordable homes in Whitby have stalled.

The houses were planned to built as part of the Broomfields project using money from Whitby's towns deal fund.

Alex Richards is the Borough Council's Head of Economic Development, he says inflation has played a part in the current issues with the project.

Sixty affordable homes were planned as part of the Broomfield's development, the project aims to:

"Deliver a wide range of housing to meet the cross-generational local demand and contribute towards a sustainable community, with property sizes ranging from 1 bedroom to 4 bedroom. Of the 60 new homes, half will be made available for affordable rent and the remainder will be for shared ownership. "

The plan was for the development to be all electric, with homes heated by air-source heat pumps and generating their own renewable energy through photovoltaic solar panels. It was planned that all the homes would be fitted with a range of energy saving components within a very well insulated structure. The homes will be delivered using timber-frame construction technology, delivering advantages in sustainability and speed of development.

The project would have seen money from Whitby's £17.1m allocation of Town's Deal funding used to pay for the green elements of the homes.

Alex Richards says the houses themselves may well still get built but if that can't be done within the timescale for spending the town deal cash then the green elements of the project would be at risk.

The town deal money needs to be spent by March 2026, if it becomes clear that the Broomfields development can't be delivered in that timescale then the allocated funds could be diverted to other projects or could even end up being given back to the government.

Alex Richards says there is a process to determine what happens to the money.

A council report describes the Broomfields scheme as an

“exemplar project creating 60 carbon-neutral affordable homes”.

It states that delays have

“incurred due to contractor partners withdrawing from the scheme” with mitigations and alternative options being considered.

According to the report, the lead on the scheme is Keyland Developments whereas it was “formerly in partnership with Sanctuary and Keepmoat”.

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