Willmott Dixon awarded £7m Lincoln affordable housing scheme

Willmott Dixon has been appointed by the City of Lincoln Council for a £7m project to deliver much needed affordable housing for residents of Lincoln.

The development on site at Rookery Lane in central Lincoln includes construction of 42 new homes comprising 32 two to four-bedroom houses, four two-bedroom bungalows and six one-bedroom apartments. Procured through the Procurement Hub’s Major Projects Framework and designed by John Roberts Architects, the scheme will ensure all homes exceed the recommended space standards and feature high energy efficiency levels.

Michelle Cotterill, director at Willmott Dixon, said: “We’re pleased to be back in Lincoln at the Rookery Lane site, delivering much needed, quality, affordable housing for the people of Lincoln, while also supporting the City of Lincoln Council’s plans to respond to the 2019 Housing Needs Survey.”

“Guided by our Now or Never Sustainability Strategy, we will be working with the residents of Lincoln across a range of social value initiatives that will increase communal, economic and environmental wellbeing in the region, while also delivering high energy efficiency levels throughout the scheme.

“This continues our long-standing relationship with the City of Lincoln Council, which has seen us deliver schemes such as the award-winning Lincoln Transport Hub. We’re looking forward to working closely with all parties involved to deliver this scheme.”

The new homes will be built using traditional construction methods but feature forward-thinking innovation including electric vehicle charging points for each house and a shared pay-as-you-go charging station between the apartments.

Cllr Donald Nannestad, Deputy Leader & Portfolio Holder for quality housing at the City of Lincoln Council, said: “It is exciting that we are starting the works to deliver these homes on Rookery Lane, supported by Homes England funding. They will be let at affordable rents to meet needs of local residents, and all lettings for the housing will be made under the Council’s allocations policy.

“Continued housing growth is key to ensure that there is a sufficient availability of homes to support economic growth and job creation in Lincoln, and these high-quality homes will help meet this demand.”

Maria Clayton, capital projects manager for the City of Lincoln Council, said: “Willmott Dixon will be carrying out the construction works, as well as the demolition of properties at 89 and 93 Rookery Lane to facilitate an entrance road to the new properties. The design of the new homes ensures that they will all meet the recommended space standards and have high energy efficiency levels. Parking will be built into the scheme, with the road acting as a shared space for cars and pedestrians in a bid to give equal priority to pedestrians cyclists while ensuring cars travel slowly.”

Louise Dodds, client relationship manager at Procurement Hub, said: This scheme highlights the strength of true partnership working as both Willmott Dixon and the City of Lincoln Council have worked in unison to form a one-team ethos that will ensure the project runs as cohesively and as smoothly as possible.”

Paul Ponwaye, director at John Roberts Architects, said: “It is always a pleasure working with Willmott Dixon and the City of Lincoln Council, none more so in being part of the team delivering much needed new affordable homes, but it has not been without its challenges. During the design development of the project, we have encountered a range of site constraints including protected species, a high water table and Tree Protection Orders on a previously land-locked back-land site.

“Working together with Willmott Dixon and the Council we were able to steer our way through these to achieve a scheme that delivers the maximum development potential on one of the most challenging greenfield sites that we have encountered for some time.”

The construction work is due to complete on site in December 2022. The project marks the latest in a proud history of delivery in Lincolnshire for Willmott Dixon.  Over the past four years the business has delivered more than £11m of social value in the region, creating more than £56m of local spend with SMEs and spent more than 7,300 hours supporting young people into jobs.