Esh starts £42m Middlesbrough housing contract

Work is under way on 250 affordable homes for housing association Thirteen Group at two separate sites in Middlesbrough – Brambles Farm and Gresham.The combined £42m schemes will provide a mix of houses, apartments and bungalows for affordable rent.At Brambles Farm, Esh will build 105 timber-framed homes on two adjacent sites on Kedward Avenue where three now-demolished tower blocks once stood. Ten of the properties will also be built as ‘net zero-carbon.’Four miles away, Esh Construction is also working on 145 new homes on a development known as Union Village on formerly derelict land, with support from Homes England and the government’s brownfield housing fund.Mark Binns, operations director at Esh Construction, said: “Securing these two notable projects and continuing our successful working relationship with Thirteen has kickstarted growth plans within our affordable housing division. We have a £166m forward order book secured, which in turn allows us to create employment opportunities for local people and generate a significant amount of work for our local supply chain.”Thirteen has brought forward the schemes in partnership with Middlesbrough Council, Redcar & Cleveland Council and Homes England.On the Kedward Avenue project, Esh is working with Hall & Partners, BSBA Architects, iD Civils and Billinghurst George & Partners. On the Gresham development it is working with IDPartnership , Elliott Associates and CK21.