A new housing development is creating some of the city's greenest affordable homes along with construction apprenticeships and training placements for local people.

City-based housing regeneration specialist Lovell is building the Windrush Court development in Chapeltown Road, Leeds LS7, for Unity Housing.

With funding from the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), the scheme will create 11 one- and two-bedroom apartments for affordable rent through the housing association which are set to be completed in October 2010. The homes will be the first homes in the city to reach Level 4 of the Code for Sustainable Homes, the system for measuring the environmental performance of new housing. Unity Housing Association, Lovel Partnerships and the HCA have also joined forces with Leeds regeneration charity re’new to deliver construction training opportunities at the development including apprenticeships and work placements. Lovell has taken on two apprentices from Leeds to train through the programme, a trainee joiner and a bricklayer.


Trainee bricklayer Lee Wilson, 33, from Burmantofts, Leeds, had spent 12 months seeking an apprenticeship before getting the chance to train through the Windrush Court scheme. He was previously a painter and decorator but decided to retrain after being made redundant.

The other apprentice taken on through the scheme is trainee joiner Steve Woodger, from Armley, Leeds, who was also unemployed before starting his apprenticeship. Steve, 33, is studying for an NVQ Level 3 qualification in joinery.

Homes at Windrush Court will have photovoltaic roof panels which convert sunlight into electricity. Other green features include a mechanical ventilation with heat recovery system which works by extracting indoor air and replacing it with 'fresh' outside air which is pre-warmed by the extracted air via a heat exchanger. Some apartments will also have a system for recycling rainwater – enabling it to be used for flushing toilets, for example – to reduce the usage of mains-supplied water.

(CD/KMcA)