Nottingham’s first Passivhaus development gets green light

A derelict former children’s home is to be demolished to make way for Nottingham’s first ‘passivhaus’ development.

Eight 3-bedroom family homes will be built by Positive Homes on the site between Ranskill Gardens and Cottam Gardens in Top Valley, after city councillors granted planning permission.

Each super-insulated home will have solar panels as standard – and potentially a ground source hot water and heating system – to keep energy bills down.

Positive Homes managing director Martin Valentine said: “This will be the first all-passivhaus family home development in Nottingham – and every home will be priced for first time buyers.

“The site is owned by Nottingham City Council and the children’s home has been closed for years. We’ve been working with the council to develop a scheme that could make a real difference to the local area.

“We will be setting up a small factory and hiring a workforce to build the kits for the homes – the build system is ideal for apprentices, so we can both build new homes and train the builders of the future.”

Every home will be constructed locally using the ‘Beattie Passive’ system – the first timber frame system in the world to be accredited by the International Passivhaus Institute.

Positive Homes has ambitious plans for up to 500 super-low energy homes across the East Midlands over the next five years – and wants to work with local councils to regenerate derelict and surplus land.

Valentine added: “Ranskill Gardens is just the start for us. Our next site is a 50-home scheme on land owned by Chesterfield Borough Council – that will pump more than £1m into local public services at a time when budgets are under severe pressure. I’ve also had positive discussions with a number of councils and other public bodies across the region.

“The first homes we built in Chesterfield have been very popular with buyers – and we had eight offers in one day for just four homes.

“Our intention is to show it’s perfectly possible to build new homes to an incredibly high standard – but without it costing any more than a typical new house. That means we can sell for the same price as the major housebuilders – making low energy homes the norm, not something just for a ‘Grand Designs’ programme.”