Salix Homes and its partners have started work on a second Passivaus apartment scheme in the heart of Salford.
Willohaus was granted planning permission last year, and forms part of the £2.5bn Crescent Salford regeneration – a partnership between the city council, the University of Salford, and ECF (formerly the English Cities Fund).
The scheme on Peru Street will deliver 100 sustainable one- and two-bedroom apartments, which Salix says will be affordable. It very much serves as the sequel to the Greenhaus development, which completed last month.
ECF – a public private partnership between Homes England, Legal & General, and Muse – is delivering the apartments, which will be built on a disused car park. The homes are being built by lead contractor Eric Wright Construction
Salix Homes, which owns 8,000 homes across Salford, is the housing partner for Willohaus, working alongside ECF.
The landlord secured grant funding from Homes England and Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), alongside its own investment, with the new homes forming part of Salix Homes’ wider ambitions to deliver more affordable and sustainable accommodation across the city.
Liam Turner, executive director of assets, growth and sustainability at Salix Homes, said: “Following on from the Greenhaus development, we’ve established a solid partnership with ECF to build more affordable homes in Salford that are high quality, cleaner and greener.
“Passivhaus is the gold standard for energy efficient buildings and construction, so we’re incredibly proud to be part of another ground-breaking development that will deliver desperately needed new and affordable homes in Salford, which are better for the environment, support our carbon neutral ambitions, and help reduce fuel poverty for residents.
“Both Greenhaus and Willohaus represent a new era of new-build, affordable, and eco-friendly homes that are fit-for-the-future and contribute towards the battle against climate change, while helping to tackle the housing crisis.”
Joe Stockton, senior development manager for ECF, added: “We’re pleased to be continuing our partnership with Salix Homes, following our success delivering low-energy, Passivhaus-standard homes at nearby Greenhaus. What has previously been done on a relatively small-scale, we are now looking to upscale, making sustainable homes accessible and affordable for a wider range of customers.
“We’re looking forward to working with our partners to create a vibrant, well-connected neighbourhood at Crescent Salford, starting with our Willohaus community.”
Tree house
The name Willohaus is inspired by Salix Homes’ name, with Salix being a variety of willow tree synonymous with Salford. A Salix willow tree can be found in the nearby memorial garden at the University of Salford.
Passivhaus buildings can reduce energy bills by up to 90% compared to traditional housing stock, helping residents to reduce their fuel bills while cutting carbon footprints. This is achieved through a whole-building approach to efficient, high-quality construction, which is independently tested and verified.
Willowhaus is the first Passivhaus-certified development to benefit from funding through the new ‘trailblazer’ devolution protocols, which have seen GMCAgiven greater powers and funding to enable more truly affordable net-zero homes, via the Affordable Homes Programme.
The site is situated in the heart of the historic civic district of Salford, which has been undergoing extensive regeneration in recent years. It was once a key industrial area for the city and back in the 1800s the site was home to a public bath house.
Tom Stannard, Salford City Council’s chief executive, said: “It is such great news to see works starting on another eco-friendly development in our city. The incredible Passivhaus standards will see residents using much less energy and in turn paying much less for their energy bills. I’d like to thank all our partners for their hard work as we work to be a zero-carbon city by 2038.”
Tom Hawley, head of affordable housing growth for the North at Homes England, added: “Willohaus will not only be a very high quality and high energy performance building, it will also bring 100 affordable homes for rent into this significant regeneration scheme.
“This demonstrates how flexible the Government’s Affordable Homes Programme can be to meet local need for affordable housing as well as contributing to reducing the carbon footprint from housing. The project shows great vision and partnership working from all involved.”
Main image: (Left to right) Harry Molyneux (Eric Wright), Liam Turner (Salix Homes), Jess Sharples (Eric Wright), Simon Hourihan (Muse-ECF), and Jonathan Wasp (Eric Wright)
Read next: City Plumbing’s Integrated Solutions wins 35,000-home contract
Are you a social housing professional? Sign up for a FREE MEMBERSHIP to upload news stories, post job vacancies, and connect with colleagues on our secure social feed.
