Thorpe Willoughby scheme opening ceremony

54North Homes and parent company Karbon Homes officially opened a development of 70 new properties in Thorpe Willoughby, Selby, with a community celebration and a visit from North Yorkshire councillors.

Joined by Cllr Simon Myers, North Yorkshire Council’s Executive Member for Culture, Arts and Housing, and Thorpe Willoughby and Hambleton division’s Cllr Cliff Lunn, the event celebrated the delivery of much-needed affordable housing in the area.

There was fun to be had with many games, including giant versions of KerPlunk and Connect 4, which youngster Hudson Bellamy can be seen enjoying below.

In his address at the event, Cllr Myers highlighted the importance of building more affordable housing.

He said: “Affordable housing developments like this are crucial in ensuring local people are able to stay living in the area and have access to good quality, highly energy efficient homes. The finished product is a community people are proud to live in and it’s been a pleasure to meet some of the new residents.”

After a ribbon cutting with Cllr Myers and colleagues from 54North Homes and Karbon Homes, residents were treated to ice creams from mobile ice cream vendor Graham’s Ices (pictured below in the background, with mum Amy O'Connor and daughter Nancy Wilson in the foreground).

James Kilroy, Head of Land and Partnerships at Karbon Homes, said: “It’s been a great afternoon, coming together with residents and local stakeholders to celebrate the completion of the new homes.

“The growth of Karbon’s development programme in Yorkshire, supported by our subsidiary company 54North Homes, who manage the homes, is key in addressing the county’s housing affordability issues.

“The popularity of these new homes at Thorpe Willoughby demonstrates the importance of ensuring new developments meet the needs of the local community.”

Further entertainment at the event came from magician Bethan Sims, who is seen below delighting a youngster with a clever trick.

The new homes, located at the end of Field Lane in the village, are highly energy efficient, and each achieve an energy performance certificate rating of B.

Developed by Karbon’s construction partner Countryside Partnerships, they have been built using timber frame construction – a high-quality, environmentally friendly, modern method of house building – and are powered by air source heat pumps, a technology three times more efficient than gas boilers.

Available for Affordable Rent, Shared Ownership and Rent to Buy, the new homes have been welcomed by local residents who would otherwise have been priced out of the village.

Ashley Huthart bought her home on the new development through Shared Ownership, and lives there with her two teenage sons.

Ashley said: “Our new home is perfect, so warm and spacious for me and the boys. I was over the moon when they confirmed I had secured a plot and now we’re in and settled, I feel really lucky.

“I was really grateful to see some of the new homes were available for shared ownership as it’s the only way I was ever going to be able to get on the property ladder in this village due to the cost.

“We need more schemes like this in the area to ensure people like me have the chance to secure homes like this.”

Meanwhile, Kaisee Bellamy, who attended with mum Natasha and brother Hudson, is pictured above enjoying one of the many games at the event.

The development is supported by funding from Homes England, through Karbon’s strategic partnership with the government’s housing delivery agency.

The strategic partnership has provided Karbon with £165m in funding to deliver 2,200 new affordable homes across the North East and Yorkshire over the next few years.

All new homes developed by Karbon Homes in Yorkshire will be managed by 54North Homes, a subsidiary of the Karbon Group with nearly 4,000 homes across the region.