Construction begins in three Doncaster communities on council houses developments

Work is now underway on 21 two to four bedroom homes on Adwick Lane in Toll Bar; seven two to three bedroom houses on Appleby Road in Intake and five two to three bedroom properties on Athelstane Crescent, Edenthorpe.

The sites form part of the council’s new £100 million house building programme that was approved, along with a new housing strategy, by Mayor Ros Jones and cabinet earlier this year.

The social housing developments will be a mix of bungalows and family properties.

Council bosses said a key focus is sustainability with various features included to make them energy efficient and cost effective to run, which aims to support efforts to tackle the climate emergency declared in the borough back in September 2019.

Housing chiefs added that consideration of how the schemes may impact on nature recovery and biodiversity are at the ‘core of the design briefs’.

Each site has been designed to safeguard the environment, while taking into account their tree and biodiversity impacts, they said.

Coun Glyn Jones, deputy mayor and cabinet member for housing, said: “I am delighted to see the next raft of new council homes start to go up.

“Building quality homes for Doncaster residents was a fundamental element of our housing strategy and the Council Homes Delivery Plan so seeing work get underway on our latest three developments is excellent news.

“We have had a superb record for delivering new council homes in recent years and this commitment is continuing with more than 500 new homes planned over the next five years.

“These are homes that include the latest energy saving features to address the climate change agenda and are built to meet the needs and wants of residents. We are leading the way on high standards on the council homes building front.”

Construction contractor Willmott Dixon, who are building the homes, said they will continue to provide housing needs for the borough.

Nick Heath, director at Willmott Dixon, added: “We aim to leave a positive lasting impact on the communities we work within.

“Throughout this project, we will generate £444,000 in social value through initiatives to enhance social, economic and environmental wellbeing, such as charity work, apprenticeships for young people and bettering energy efficiency standards.”