The North East’s newest developer has started its first development on site, thanks to the support of Identity Consult.
Chapter Homes has been established as an arms length private company by Durham County Council to develop new housing across the county with the aim of offering a better choice for house buyers and creating new job opportunities.
Chapter Homes’ first development, Eden Field in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, started on site in January 2016 and will deliver 125 new homes, predominantly for sale and market rent. Identity Consult is acting as Employer’s Agent for the delivery phase but has played a key role in the establishment of the new company.
Identity Consult was initially appointed as Technical Advisor, tasked with working closely with the Council to develop the business plan for the new company and looking at the structures under which housing schemes could be delivered. Following this exercise, Identity Consult led the appointment of a partner to construct the new homes with Chapter Homes maintaining full responsibility for sales and marketing.
The recent reductions and uncertainty in funding for affordable housing mean that more councils and Registered Providers are looking to follow Durham County Council’s lead in setting up subsidiaries to deliver private housing as a way of generating a surplus that can be re-invested in other areas of the business.
Identity Consult Director, Pete Johnson, who led the commission said: “We are starting to see a blurring of the lines between commercial house builders and councils or Registered Providers as organisations look for ways to make up for the loss of grant income.
“We are also managing a number of joint ventures between the private and public sector to deliver mixed tenure housing. The knowledge we have gained from these schemes makes us ideally placed to work with the likes of Durham County Council, advising on the most effective ways of setting up programmes of housing for sale.”
The first sales release for Eden Field will be in summer 2016 and Identity Consult is currently working with Chapter Homes to look at its next potential site in Chester Le Street.
Richard Roddam, Chief Development Officer for Chapter Homes, said: “Chapter Homes saw its first new development commencing at Eden Field in Newton Aycliffe.
“After 18 months in the making it goes without saying that the valuable skills and experience of Identity Consult has ensured that the development commenced on time and is continuing to be developed in line with the programme.
“As the company develops its aspirations further we are delighted to be continuing to work with Identity Consult at our Chester Le Street site and are also looking at additional potential opportunities moving forward.”