Leading housing association L&Q has officially completed the delivery of 248 new homes at D’Urton Grange, in Preston, with residents now moved into their new homes in the growing community. The milestone was marked with a ribbon-cutting ceremony with representatives from L&Q, Willmott Dixon, Preston Council, and Homes England. Guests included Cllr Valerie Wise, Cabinet Member for Community Wealth Building at Preston Council and Kate Collins, Head of Affordable Housing Delivery at Homes England.
Delivered by L&Q in partnership with Willmott Dixon, the development consists of 248 new high quality tenure-blind family homes. Half of these new homes are affordable, split between shared ownership and affordable rent, catering to a wider range of households. The scheme has also secured £2.24 grant funding from Homes England, the original land owners of the site, through the Strategic Partnerships programme. This helped accelerate the delivery of affordable homes, in particular affordable rent, according to local need. The development also included improvements to the Preston Guild Wheel cycle route and significant green and open spaces, in keeping with its rural setting. Construction work started in 2020 and carried on through COVID to eventually complete earlier this year. Built around traditional family-friendly street scene, the development recently won the award for the Best Family Home, at the First Time Buyers’ Awards.
Ben Townsend, New Business Director NW for L&Q, said:
“We are delighted to be celebrating this milestone and officially completing D’Urton Grange, after years of hard work, with our partners Willmott Dixon. “We are particularly grateful for the support from Preston Council and Homes England. This has enabled us to build more affordable homes and at a faster rate of construction,
genuinely contributing to tackling the housing crisis in the area.”
Cllr Valerie Wise, Cabinet Member for Community Wealth Building at Preston Council, said:
“The development is very impressive and of a high quality, with a large number of mixed affordability ranging from affordable homes to buy, shared ownership packages and affordable rented options to suit various incomes. It’s good to see a registered social landlord such as L&Q in partnership with Wilmott Dixon putting back into the social and affordable housing markets and investing in our neighbourhoods.”
Michael Poole-Sutherland, north west director for Willmott Dixon, said:
“On behalf of our team of housing experts, I’m delighted to celebrate completion of this development, which delivers an outstanding combination of high quality, affordability and sustainability.
“We are also immensely proud to reflect on the positive community impact the project has created. In partnership with our local supply chain partners at D’urton Grange, our team has created 29 full-time employment opportunities for local people, supported 717 weeks of apprenticeships and engaged more than 500 local school students.”
Kate Collins, Head of Affordable Housing Delivery at Homes England, said:
“As the Government’s housing and regeneration agency, increasing the supply of quality affordable homes remains one of our key objectives and we are committed to supporting stakeholders of all sizes to achieve their ambitions. The D’Urton Grange development is a prime example of how we work with partners like L&Q, through the Affordable Homes Programme, to build much needed new communities that people can be proud to call home.”