New homes revitalise the East Midlands

4 March 05

There’s a common misconception that if you buy a new home, you’ll be getting a characterless box on a featureless estate that has eaten into the green belt of a town or city. While this may true for some developments, New Homes week provides a perfect opportunity for East Midlands developers to highlight the role they have played in tidying up local areas and boosting their economies.

Outsiders used to have a perception that the East Midlands was decaying and deprived. No surprise really: for some time, industries and shops were closing down and factories were being boarded up. But that’s all changed. The economy is buoyant and a feel-good factor is encouraging more people to set up home in the region. This has brought new challenges in terms of providing quality homes to meet increased demand. But the region’s property developers have risen to the challenge and turned some of the old factories and mills – previously described as ‘eye-sores’, ‘drab’ or ‘outdated’ – into stylish, high quality homes. And, unlike other parts of the country, homeowners here are finding that new properties are still incredibly affordable.

“The region has certainly enjoyed a change in fortunes,” says Steve Midgley, managing director of Fairgrove Homes. “The establishment of bodies such as the East Midlands Development Agency have really helped boost the region’s economy, create a good climate for investment, attract new business and create jobs. In turn, this is leading to a greater demand for good quality properties in cities and towns throughout the region. Of course, there isn’t an infinite stock of new land – and many people prefer to live in historic buildings – so it makes sense to turn some of the region’s brownfield sites into new homes. Added to this, the government has plans that 60% of new-build houses should be on brownfield sites by 2008, a figure that has been easily achieved by sensible homebuilders in the region already.”

We’ve all got favourite old buildings that have now been regenerated. In the past, the historic Dobson’s Mill in Sutton in Ashfield was referred to as a ‘long-standing problem site’. Today, it has been turned into a series of luxury homes, and has won praise from the Sutton Heritage Society as well as Ashfield District Council, which presented an excellence in design award to the site’s architects in February 2005. Meanwhile, Olders Valley at Woodville in Derbyshire has had its detractors. Today, it has been turned into five luxury homes, and has won praise from new owners who report that they have moved into a home combining the advantages of modern design with plenty of old fashioned character.

“Considerate property developers start with the principle that people want a home, not a house,” says Steve Midgley. “And if you start with that premise, it’s very difficult to justify building anything that you wouldn’t personally want to live in.”

About Fairgrove Homes
Fairgrove Homes is a locally owned business that prides itself on building individual homes of character. The company combines quality with small developments in desirable locations to meet customers’ needs. Fairgrove Homes’ current development sites include: Olders Valley in Woodville; Old School Woods in Shipley Park, and Lake Gardens in Loscoe, Derbyshire. The Old Bull Farm in Sutton Bonington, and Eakring Road in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire. Further new developments are situated at Orton Fields, Bramcote, Nottinghamshire.

About New Homes Week (NHW)
NHW was launched by the House Builders Federation (HBF) in conjunction with the New Homes Marketing Board. The event will take place from 7 to 13 March 2005, and responds to a number of government initiatives raised at the Delivering Sustainable Communities week coincides with the Delivering Sustainable Communities Summit.

HBF's chief executive Rob Ashmead says: “The industry is keen to work with new and different partners to achieve the desired sustainable regeneration programme. Our initiative, New Homes Week, is the industry’s response to the challenges laid down by the prime minister and deputy prime minister at the Delivering Sustainable Communities Summit.”

< Go Back