Delight as £3.2m eco-homes completed

The event celebrated the end of the first phase of a new £3.2 million eco-friendly housing development at Montgomery Fields in Wath.

Residents from surrounding homes joined the Mayor of Rotherham, Cllr Shaun Wright for the occasion.

A total of 29 sustainable homes have now been completed with work on phase two, Denman Road, commencing in March next year.

The project, which started in February last year, has been developed by housing association Guinness Northern Counties, in partnership with Rotherham Borough Council and housing regeneration specialist Lovell Partnership.

John Ray, of Guinness Northern Counties, said: “We are thrilled to have completed phase one of this development and are looking forward to welcoming our new tenants.

“These properties offer some fantastic environmental features including solar panels, heat recovery systems, rain water harvesting and a sedum grass-covered roof.

“These are the first purpose-built eco-homes of their type in the local area but we are looking forward to providing more homes of this quality and standards as we continue to develop this area.”

The new homes at Montgomery Fields include properties for shared ownership and rent with an additional Rent2Homebuy option in partnership with the council.

Grant funding of £1.7 million for phase one has been provided by the Homes and Communities Agency—a national housing and regeneration body.

The development has achieved recognition for its crime prevention during the design, layout and construction stages.

Wath councillor Alex Sangster, said: “It is great to see this first phase completed, on time and on budget.

“We look forward to working with Guinness Northern Counties and Lovell Partnership for the future phases of this development and fully expect to be rewarded with the same attention to detail and high quality work, which the residents of Wath will appreciate at first hand for years to come.”

The properties were designed by Sheffield based architects AA Design.