New affordable zero carbon homes in Semington reach completion

Wiltshire Council has worked with developers, Newland Homes to build six zero-carbon affordable rent and shared ownership homes in Semington.

The development, built under a Section 106 agreement, provides four affordable rent and two shared ownership homes. They use the latest zero carbon technology, in a rural Semington location with no access to domestic gas.

These zero carbon homes have solar panels and air source heat pumps with an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating in excess of 100 and an A category for energy efficiency.

This is part of Wiltshire Council's programme to provide 1,000 affordable homes over the next decade.

They have been built as part of the St George's Mead housing development, a mix of new two and three-bed houses and a bungalow built to adaptable standards for Wiltshire Council to own and manage.

Cllr Phil Alford, Cabinet Member for Housing, said: On average, there is less affordable housing in Semington than the rest of Wiltshire and it's something we're keen to change. These new zero carbon homes provide much needed affordable housing with low running costs. This forms part of our wider vision for affordable, low carbon homes across the county.

As well as developments built in partnership with developers via a Section 106 agreement such as this, we are also embarking on a council house build programme which will see around £195m invested into building new, energy efficient council homes up to 2032. We will also invest £289m up to 2032 on improving existing council housing properties to ensure they achieve a minimum energy performance rating of B.

Affordable housing and tackling the climate emergency are key aims of our business plan and this development is a clear example of the work we're doing to make that a reality.

All affordable rent homes have now been allocated. One two-bed shared ownership home is still for sale and conveyancing has begun on the other shared ownership home.

The affordable housing has been allocated in line with the council's allocation policy.

Section 106 is a legally-binding agreement between the local authority and the applicant as part of the granting of planning permission.