Tenant and Leaseholder Annual Report: We Think Home
Whilst the majority of our home improvement works receive great feedback from customers, we have had feedback that some of these works have fallen below the standards you expect. We have used this feedback to improve how we work and want to continue to learn and improve.
As part of our We Think Home aim, read more about:
- using your feedback to develop new contracts
- Lowfield Green
- Duncombe Square and Burnholme Green
- Ordnance Lane
- community and self-build homes
Using your feedback to develop new contracts
We'll let tenants know when their home is due for home improvement work. When the work is finished, we will ask the tenant to complete a survey. This will help us to make sure our standards have been met by the contractor. The survey will ask if the tenant is satisfied with the work and the contractor. We'll use this information to improve and develop the service.
Lowfield Green
Our biggest housing development for years, Lowfield Green in Acomb is now complete, with only a few homes remaining for sale. 56 new affordable homes are now occupied.
140 homes were built for the council, with 40% of these being affordable homes. There are 6 self-build homes all of which are complete. You may have seen some of these homes featured on Grand Designs. There are plans for 19 community build homes to be delivered by YorSpace.
Duncombe Square and Burnholme Green
Duncombe Square and Burnholme Green are award winning housing schemes being delivered by the council. Duncombe Square is in Clifton, and Burnholme Green is in Tang Hall. Both projects will provide much needed affordable homes within the city, with 60% of homes at these sites being affordable.
The new homes will meet the rigorous Passivhaus energy standard and will feature solar panels and Air Source Heat Pumps. This means residents will have much lower energy bills, whilst the homes will be a comfortable temperature all year round.
The projects will be the first affordable housing scheme in York to be certified to Passivhaus standard and will be net zero carbon. This means that they will be comfortable and warm all year round with very low heating costs for the residents. Currently, these projects will be the biggest of their kind in the north of England.
The sites have been designed to prioritise walking, cycling and public transport. All homes have cycle sheds as well as shared cargo bike stores. There will be electric chargers for those with electric cars. Duncombe Square will include a new pedestrian and cycle path, linking to the adjoining housing development.
The developments will be family friendly neighbourhoods, with private gardens or balconies, shared ‘ginnel gardens’ as well as parks with play equipment in the centre of each development. The first homes in these developments are due to be completed in spring 2024.
Ordnance Lane
Ordnance Lane is a new housing development in Fishergate on the site of the old bus depot. It will feature 101 homes, including 11 flats within the married quarters building which will be refurbished.
The housing will be 100% affordable offering rent, affordable rent and shared ownership tenures. The demolition and site clearance works are due to commence soon, and homes should start to be built in Autumn 2025.
The new homes will also be built to the Passivhaus standard, whilst the married quarters will be refurbished to a high standard of energy efficiency.
Community and self-build homes
If you like the show ‘Grand Designs’, you may have seen that 5 of the 6 self-build homes at Lowfield Green were featured on series 3 of ‘Grand Designs: The Street’. All 6 homes are now occupied.
Work has continued on the small sites self-build programme with the site at Dane Avenue achieving outline planning permission, whilst we are submitting a planning application for the former garage court on Chaloners Road. Between them these 2 sites will bring forward 5 plots for individuals to design and build their own homes. On our Burnholme Green development we are bringing forward 5 self or custom build plots which we will start marketing in 2024.
Find out more about our Self-build and Custom-build Programme.