Willmott Dixon Starts £10.9m Housing Scheme

Willmott Dixon has started work at Lucy Faithfull House, a flagship Oxford housing scheme which will form part of Oxford City Council’s development programme.

Procured via the SCF Framework, the £10.9 million project will see the delivery of a four- to six-storey residential building which will have 36 flats with a mixture of one- and two-bedroom apartments. Works will also include communal and amenity areas, along with storage for bikes and parking provision for two adaptable disabled flats. Around 75% of the properties will form affordable housing, offering social rents, affordable rents and shared ownership options, with the remaining ten flats being for private sale.

The new housing scheme will be located in the heart of Oxford and is set to open in late 2022. The project is part of the local council’s ambitions to deliver almost 1900 homes via its housing company, Oxford City Housing Ltd (OCHL). Sustainability will also play a key role with all properties within the development at 40% below current UK Government carbon reduction targets, aiding Oxford on its journey for all new developments to be zero carbon by 2030.

Councillor Alex Hollingsworth, Cabinet Member for Planning and Housing Delivery, said: “Oxford needs homes and this flagship project will see OCHL deliver 36 new low carbon homes in the heart of our city. It will also help us tackle the systemic inequality produced by a broken housing market, providing 15 council homes at social rent and another 13 sub-market homes for affordable rent or shared ownership.”

Richard Poulter, Managing Director at Willmott Dixon’s Central South region, commented: “We are delighted to have started on-site at Lucy Faithfull House, a project that will play an important role in OCHL delivering the council’s ambitious housing development programme.

“The requirement from the council to deliver a building with sustainability at its heart fits well with the principles of our organisation. Through our 2030 ‘Now or Never’ sustainability strategy, we are on our own journey to achieve net zero carbon in operation within the next decade.”

Commencing work at Lucy Faithfull House marks the latest step for Willmott Dixon in a proud history of supporting councils to deliver affordable housing. In neighbouring Wiltshire, its team of residential experts are working with Swindon Borough Council on the first two phases of their Queens Drive housing schemes, creating more than 150 much-needed homes across a combination of houses and apartments.

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