£27m green homes developments approved by Portsmouth council

The city council has approved spending £26.8m on 91 new homes in various sites in Havant – of which 70 per cent will be used by people on Portsmouth’s waiting list and the rest allocated to the borough council.

It is planned the dwellings will be built using the ‘passive house’ model, which uses a unique ventilation system and extra-effective insulation to create an airtight home that can adjust to the seasons itself – reducing the need for heating. Triple glazed windows and rooftop solar panels could also be installed.

Speaking at a meeting the council's housing boss, Councillor Darren Sanders, said: 'This is very very exciting.

'I think from the point of view of us as an administration we should be doing this where possible and where viable. Where possible because we know not all locations are going to fit, and where viable because we don't want to jeopardise social housing.'

As part of the proposals 63 new homes will be built at an estimated cost of £18.7m at a site known as Strouden Court, and the other 28 dwellings will be built in several spots around Wecock Farm for £8.1m.

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Cllr Cal Corkery, the Labour spokesman for housing, said: 'This is some of the most important work the council is doing at the moment.

'Going forward it is only going to become more important as the impact of the climate crisis becomes more obvious.

'Hopefully we will lead the way with this.'

And Tory spokesman for housing, Cllr Scott Payter-Harris, said: 'The government is going to be phasing out gas boilers so this is good to say we are ahead of the curve.

'It's exciting, as a council we are looking to build properties to these standards. We will be learning as we go so we should move forward at a sensible pace with this, shouldn't rush forward.'

It is planned the homes will be rented at an affordable level.

Portsmouth council will apply to Homes England for grants totalling £2.7m for the projects with the rest coming from unsupported borrowing.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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