Walk & Talk: Unlocking Opportunities - The Hirsel’s Housing Projects
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The Hirsel (part of Douglas and Angus Estates) is a 500 acre estate on the edge of Coldstream in the Scottish Borders and has built 125 new homes over the last 12 years across three sites. The contrasting housing projects provide a brilliant opportunity for members to see how a landowner has taken the initiative to provide housing that, as a result successful community engagement, has seen a range of high quality homes developed to satisfy local need. The Hudson Hirsel project won SLE’s Helping it Happen 2020 ‘Judges’ Special Award’ for its outstanding work in house building in rural Scotland.
An update on the EPC Reform and redevelopment will be also covered. Housing, EPC’s and retrofitting continue to be pertinent topics for members, this event will help equip attendees with a greater understanding of the options available to them.
The event will cover:
- An overview of the Hirsel Estate and their housing philosophy.
- How the partnership between The Hirsel Estate and Jamie Hudson was formed, which established the successful Hudson Hirsel partnership
- How did The Hirsel estate approach housing before the partnership?
- Discuss the pros and cons of development funding
- How to unlock asset value to upgrade a housing portfolio.
- Building houses for the community and the tax benefits to this.
- Managing scale and the impact of being a smaller developer.
- Discuss how Section 75 can work in your favour.
- Discuss the fluid approach taken by the Hudson Hirsel to meet market demand in a rural setting.
We will hear from;
- Henry Birch, Partner at Clarke and Simpson, who manage the Douglas and Angus Estates
- Jamie Hudson, Managing Partner, Hudson Hirsel LLP
A full description of what has been achieved and the decisions made, will be given at each of the three housing sites that will be visited.
The three housing projects on the Hirsel estate are:
Leet Haugh, Coldstream
Douglas and Angus Estates first established the development/house building company Hudson Hirsel LLP as the vehicle to undertake house building “in house”. The Leet Haugh project obtained planning in 2011 and currently has an overall development size of 146 houses of which 100 houses have been completed. The conservation style development sits on the edge of the Hirsel Estate policies and has won a number of awards including SLE’s Helping it Happen Awards, Scottish Borders Council Designing for Streets and Place Making Award and one of our site managers won the NHBC Scottish Small Builder of the Year Award for Quality.
The site layout includes courtyards, village green, mews and traditional on- street properties with rear parking. The house styles vary from detached houses, semi-detached houses, terraces and a courtyard with a range of 2 to 5 bedrooms. The development integrates on-site affordable housing, using shared ownership tenure, with further off site mid-market rental properties currently being constructed at Crooks Farm on the Hirsel Estate (see further information below).
East Haugh, Birgham
This project of 15 dwellings is located in the village of Birgham on the westerly boundary of the Hirsel Estate. It was run as a satellite of the Leet Haugh development and was completed 3 years ago. It comprised 2 bedroom to 5 bedroom properties including detached houses, with a selection of bungalows, and a terrace to reflect the local design vernacular. The affordable housing provision was dealt with by way of a commuted sum to the Local Authority.
Crooks Farm, Hirsel, Coldstream
This is a 9 unit development currently under construction on the old steading of Crooks Farm, thereby can be classed as a “brown field” site. Crooks Farm is located within the main policies of Hirsel Estate. The first phase of the development includes the demolition of old out buildings on which 3 new build bungalows have been built with a further two new builds on the edge of the old steading. The second phase, which is due to start late summer, is the redevelopment of an old sawmill and lambing barn to form four dwellings. As can be envisaged with a “brown field” site, there were many challenges in meeting the local authorities Contaminated Land Officer’s requirements which involved multiple soil sampling, testing which resulted in gas membranes and sub-slab ventilation. All dwellings are heated by Air Source Heat Pumps with energy demands supplemented with solar arrays. The foul drainage is private/non-adopted using a Klargester treatment plant and a soak away.
All units are being retained by the Hirsel Estate with 7 dwellings having an affordable tenure of mid-market rent and 2 dwellings rented as main market rent. The project is due for completion summer 2024.
Lunch will be provided at The Hirsel Cottage Tea Room.
Booking information: Booking is essential and is limited.