Regeneration and Development

New Development Strategy

This year, we have been reviewing and updating our development strategy to ensure we are making a positive contribution to our communities in every way we can. Build costs are increasing and borrowing costs rising but the value of homes remains steady. However, we are finding (along with other housing providers) that our ability to build new homes for our customers is becoming harder in the current climate.

We are moving to a four-part strategy for the coming years:

Acquisition – acquiring new affordable homes from existing house builders, buying them at sale price to join our portfolio.
Development – building our own new developments with a mixture of market sales to increase income and affordable homes to rent or buy.
Regeneration – focus on regenerating some of our older, less energy efficient homes.
Disposal – when absolutely necessary (due to condition or age of a property) it is sometimes better to sell a property rather than regenerate it. Usually, depending on value, by the sale of one older property with lots of issues, we can fund a further two or three energy efficient and accessible properties, which are more in demand. Less than 0.3% of our stock (10 from 3,300) may get put up for sale each year and only after consultation with our Board.

New homes and funding created

"VfM"

£5.2million spent developing new homes

£630,000 made by Anchorwood Ltd to gift-aid back to North Devon Homes.

Across our North Devon Homes and Anchorwood Ltd portfolio we have completed on:

New homes completed (total) - 37 homes

26 market sale homes
7 social rent homes
4 shared ownership homes

In the pipeline for the next couple of years we are also working on:

Over 160 social rent, shared ownership or affordable rent homes

51 market sale

New feedback process

We continue to improve how we review our developments once a home has been handed over to customers and will be seeking honest feedback from them about their new homes. We will use this information to better inform our future developments.

"Customer Voice" - Customers have helped us put together our Development Strategy which will be launched for the next few years. They have also been visiting and reviewing a number of developments to check on progress, standards and quality.

Taw Wharf Update

The building of Phase 3 at Taw Wharf has now been completed and Phase 4 is well underway. We’ve already received lots of early reservations for homes in Phase 4, so we are really forging ahead with growing our funds for affordable housing at NDH.

As Taw Wharf is part of our Anchorwood Ltd portfolio, all houses sold at market rate are sold and profits are reinvested back into NDH, to allow us to build more affordable housing. As well as this funding, Taw Wharf is also providing 37 social or shared ownership homes at the site.

Beechfield Road

Last year we started work on creating two new family homes which were built on an oversized garden in our community and these were handed over to the new residents in June 2023. The homes have air-source heating rather than gas to provide more energy efficiency and they are electric charger ready. They have also provided parking, which can be an issue in the area.

Handover at Easterly Park

Back in April 2022, we took handover of the last phase of the Easterly Park development, which is situated to the east of Braunton, close to the popular area of Lower Park Road. This was the culmination of three years working closely with Chichester Developments, with the last phase delivering 5 social rent and 4 shared ownership properties. The development comprises 19 affordable homes and a large area of open space. An important part of the project was the ecology mitigation measures which have been incorporated into the development to protect the local fauna and flora, including native hedgerows, hedgehogs and bats. Given the success of this project, we look forward to working with Chichester Developments again in the future!

front of a row of houses in red brick and white render

What our customers say?

“It’s a beautiful flat, so much light, and a view from every window. I’m very lucky to have rolling hillside views, offering a country style of living yet being central for shops and local services.” Taw Wharf affordable housing customer.

“Thank you for the help and support getting us into our dream home. It’s fantastic to be back on the property ladder! Something we thought would never happen again.” Mr and Mrs B, Shared Owners at Easterly Park.

“From our very first viewing, to moving in and now enjoying our new life by the river, we couldn’t be happier in our new Anchorwood and Pearce home. Furthermore, it’s good to know that the profits from the development go to fund more affordable housing in the area, so more families can have a home!” Lisa from HelpForMovers and Taw Wharf Market Sale Owner.

Advertising new shared ownership opportunities

Back at the beginning of 2023, Help2Buy announced that they would be removing the facility to advertise our Shared Ownership homes for sale on their site. With this in mind, we set about creating a page on our own website where potential customers could ‘Find a Property’ either for sale, a garage to rent or a commercial let. Watch this space for more properties being added in the future.