Developer unveils £20m housing scheme on site of historic North Yorkshire railway station

Work has now commenced on transforming the site of a historic North Yorkshire railway station into a £20m-plus collection of family homes.

Having played a key role in World War Two D-Day preparations, Tanfield station first opened in 1875 before closing to passengers in 1931, and then shut down completely in 1963.

Known as Regency Place, the new homes development is being delivered by Wetherby-based Berkeley DeVeer on the three-acre brownfield site at West Tanfield.

The 42 eco-friendly properties, which will include eight affordable homes, sits on land off Mowbray Terrace.

The first phase of the development has now been launched to market. Prices range from £275k for a three-bedroom semi-detached house, to £450k for a detached five-bedroom property and £460k for a superior four-bedroom home.

All of the new homes are fitted with air source heat pumps, the latest in green home heating technology. These are energy efficient units which take heat energy from the air and converts it to heat for the home.

The units are available with financial support through the Government’s Help to Buy scheme.

As part of the scheme, house purchases at Regency Place only require a 5% deposit. It offers homebuyers a 20% equity loan from the Government, which is interest-free for five years.

Dan Newett, managing director of Berkeley DeVeer, said: “It’s often overlooked that Help to Buy is not just for first-time buyers – it opens the doors to established homeowners too who have since sold their own properties.

“Regency Place offers a family of homes tailored to meet the needs of a growing local community, particularly the demand for new-build homes, and fit well with the organic growth of the village.

“Many are tailored with first-time buyers in mind to meet the needs of the local community, while others offer spacious family homes.”

The affordable homes form part of the final phase of Regency Place and will be made available through a housing association at a later date.

The station, which sat on the single branch line between Masham, Melmerby and Ripon, drew around 8,000 passenger journeys a year, as well running a daily livestock train.

Although it closed in 1931 to passengers, World War Two gave it a new lease of life as the station acted as a transhipment point for as many as 76,000 tons of munitions stored locally each year.

According to historians, during the build-up to D-Day 42 trains were dispatched from Tanfield, each with up to 50 wagons.

Dan added: “This is the latest in a number of award-winning sites we have brought to life in North Yorkshire, including developments at Melmerby, Northallerton and Church Fenton.

“We bring to West Tanfield a proven track record of more than 25 years’ expertise, during which time we have achieved the milestone of building over 1,000 properties. We are delighted that bringing our latest development to life has equipped us with the ideal launchpad for creating our next 1,000 homes.”

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