Introduction

Eighteen environmentally friendly homes, with renewable energy sources.

Objectives and target audience

The previous scheme at Selwyn Street, built in 1986, consisted of houses and flats. A significant proportion was built for older people who lived in Coppice at a time when there was a demand for this type of accommodation in the area. However, in recent times the scheme suffered from a lack of demand and security and access problems. The flats became increasingly hard to let and a hot spot for crime and anti-social behaviour. The objective was to build eighteen homes which were environmentally friendly and have renewable energy generation. The target audience of the project was the residents of Coppice, one of the more economically deprived areas of Oldham. The area has a high percentage of residents from South Asia, so the development had to be suitable for Asian families.

Financial Resources and Partners involved

The £3 million project was developed by Manchester Methodist Housing Association – (part of the Great Places Housing Group), and has received over £800,000 from the Housing Corporation and a £280,000 contribution from The Oldham Rochdale Housing Market Renewal Pathfinder Project.

Process

The previous houses were demolished to make way for 18 contemporary, large family homes that now make up the new Selwyn Street. The Housing Corporation approved a replacement housing scheme for local families in late 2004, with additional funding from Oldham Rochdale Housing Market Renewal Pathfinder. Renewable energy technology is used extensively on the homes. The mono-pitch roofs accommodate solar panels that are connected directly to all hot water tanks. These should provide 90% of hot water in summer and 60% in winter. Prevailing wind conditions restricted electricity-generating wind turbines to the higher houses where, at one of the highest points in Oldham, they should provide up to 1kw of power. In the back gardens, which are orientated to avoid overshadowing, water butts collect rainwater from flat kitchen roofs. Over the next few years Great Places will be carrying out a monitoring exercise to assess the true running costs for the houses and the effectiveness of these renewable energy alternatives.

Results

Selwyn Street was one of only two housing schemes in the country to achieve the ‘Building for Life’ gold standard. Thanks to the high levels of insulation, wind turbines and solar-heated water, annual energy bills for residents in the new homes are on average over £700 lower than neighbouring houses. Residents are very satisfied with the eco features, especially water collecting tubs and solar panels. Residents were also satisfied with the recycling features: recycling of glass, paper, tin cans and plastic has increased significantly. A high percentage of residents stated that moving to the buildings improved their lives. The project created a lot of positive publicity for Oldham Council’s regeneration programmes. Wayne Hemingway, fashion designer and chairman of Building for Life, praised the innovation behind Selwyn Street’s environmentally-friendly features, saying: “The gold standard only goes to schemes which score well on environmental impact as well as the other criteria, and Selwyn Street’s features set a new standard for the pathfinders.”

Critical Success Factors/Challenges

The key for success was communicating to people in the area, and potential buyers, the benefits of the wind turbines and solar panels. Such developments could easily be built with success in other locations, as this development has shown that this type housing can be both popular and environmentally friendly.
Challenges including communicating all the eco-features to the residents. Not all of the residents were aware of all the features the houses have. Further work should be carried out on the process of providing residents with information about the features of their eco-home to ensure that they fully understand what features they are benefiting from, how to maximise their use and suggestions for living in a more eco-friendly way.