Karbon Homes invest £17m into new 'affordable' Darlington housing schemes

Karbon Homes is making a £17m investment in new affordable homes on two major sites in Darlington.

The housing association is developing 80 properties on the site of the former Springfield Primary School, off Salters Lane South in the east of Darlington.

And the landlord is also making a substantial investment in the village of Middleton St. George, with an estate of 44 homes approved to be built on Yarm Road.

Development work has commenced on both projects, which includes a mix of two, three and four-bedroom homes available through Rent to Buy, market sale and Affordable Rent, to serve the differing needs of the local community.

Karbon Homes already has a small presence in the Darlington area, as it owns and manages 20 homes on the Central Park regeneration project close to Darlington Railway Station, and its Prince Bishops Homes subsidiary developed 10 market sale homes on the northern outskirts of Darlington.

The profit-for-purpose company is also the landlord of 250 homes on the completed Mandale Park regeneration project in nearby Stockton.

Hartlepool-based Gus Robinson Developments has been appointed as the main contractor on both projects, along with architects NORR and engineers Portland.

The two projects will benefit from grant funding from Homes England, totalling £3.1m.

Zoey Hawthorne, assistant director of development delivery at Karbon Homes, said: “We aim to provide as many good quality homes as we can and these two developments demonstrate our commitment to the Darlington area by developing a mix of ‘affordable’ new homes for local people and families.

“Both developments will help to meet housing needs in the local area, providing more choice for local people. We have completed a number of schemes with Gus Robinson Developments and these two projects will further cement our partnership.”

Steve Bell, managing director at Gus Robinson developments, added: “The Yarm Road and Springfield School projects mark a significant step in the continued growth of Gus Robinson Developments and in the partnership between ourselves and Karbon Homes.

“We have built over 200 homes for Karbon, helping to meet the real demand for affordable housing all across the North East.”

The two developments in Darlington form part of Karbon Homes’ regionwide development programme which will see the business invest in building at least 500 new homes a year throughout its five-year ‘Strong Foundations’ strategy.

Karbon has recently issued £150m in new bonds to support the delivery of its strategy.