Housing association begins second eco-home development in Oxfordshire

Published by

Nicky Godding

Basingstoke-headquartered Sovereign Housing Association’s latest development will see nine affordable carbon-zero homes built in Abingdon that come straight from the factory floor.

Being built at Springfield Meadows in Longworth, they are part of 25 being built using Abingdon company Greencore Construction’s carbon zero construction methods.

As the housing sector celebrates Rural Housing Week, the development is testament to Sovereign’s commitment to building more homes and better places in rural settings.

These modular houses are built in a factory using closed panel walls and a hemp and lime mix insulation – an affordable eco design for the carbon zero home.

Once they leave the factory they’re moved on-site for construction.

Construction at Springfield Meadow started in May 2019 and residents have already started moving into their affordable homes. Of the 25 homes at the development, the nine affordable Sovereign homes will consist of six affordable rent and three shared ownership homes.

Alex Brooks, Development Manager, Sovereign, said: "Springfield Meadows has been granted the One Planet Living Global Leader Status by specialist environmental charity, Bioregional, which provides sustainability consultancy to help people live more sustainably.”

“This is Sovereign’s second eco-development using this type of construction, the third for Greencore, and the second to achieve One Planet Living status. Our first was Kings Lane in Longcot, Oxfordshire. Following on from the success of Kings Lane, we started this development in Longworth.’

Ian Pritchett, Managing Director, Greencore Construction said: "A normal house is responsible for around 50-60 tonnes of carbon in the construction phase, our homes are at, or very close to, carbon zero.’

“A normal home will emit around five tonnes of carbon a year, using this construction, these homes at Springfield Meadows will be carbon zero.

“If we start building things with bio-based materials that perform better and have low carbon footprints we can start to make a serious difference to climate change.”

Nicky Godding

Nicky Godding is editor of The Business Magazine. Before her journalism career, she worked mainly in public relations moving into writing when she was invited to launch Retail Watch, a publication covering retail and real estate across Europe. After some years of constant travelling, she tucked away her passport and concentrated on business writing, co-founding a successful regional business magazine. She has interviewed some of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs who have built multi-million-pound businesses and reported on many science and technology firsts. She reports on the region’s thriving business economy from start-ups, family businesses and multi-million-pound corporations, to the professionals that support their growth and the institutions that educate the next generation of business leaders.