Hambleton District Council have given a resolution to grant planning permission to Thirteen Housing Group for the construction of ninety seven affordable homes at the Sowerby Gateway development. Thirty eight of the new homes will be shared ownership with the remaining fifty nine for affordable rent

The design provides a high quality scheme which would not just meet the shortfall of affordable housing at Sowerby Gateway, but would be an exemplar of design quality and present a flagship scheme for affordable housing, ensuring a highly desirable development using Sowerby village as inspiration to recreate the all-important ‘sense of place’ that gives the village its character.

The site is bounded by the main East Coast rail line to the west and new private housing to the east with open fields to the north and south and, whilst not directly adjacent to Sowerby village centre, its proximity provides a strong architectural character, drawing the essence of the existing buildings and their setting into the new development. The scheme proposes a tree-lined ‘Green Spine’ characteristic of a ‘village green’ feature with terraced housing of different sizes and design to suit varying needs. On the main street, the majority of homes are set back from the road, separated by soft landscaping and communal access drives, but at the entrance to the development, the buildings are angled close to the road to define a gateway. Off this main road, side streets are staggered to create a hierarchy of routes with sheltered communal garden space in addition to private gardens.

One of the priorities with this scheme was to create an exemplar and flagship scheme of high quality social housing that is as good as the adjacent private developments. There are nine house type designs, several of which have individual variations to create focal points and interesting compositions. The development is a contemporary twist on the traditional scale and form of existing dwellings within Sowerby. The homes are also designed to be a 10% improvement on existing Building Regulations, whilst the gardens and communal soft planting areas have been designed to be havens of eco-diversity.