Former Wyken priest honoured with road name at affordable housing development

Father Robert Wright – who was fondly known in the community as Father Bob – passed away last year at the age of 68 and had called St. John Fisher’s Church home for a quarter of a century.

Robert Wright Drive can be found on a new housing scheme in Wyken being delivered by Deeley Group’s Affordable Living division.

The development is being delivered in partnership with housing provider Stonewater and will see the construction of 39 affordable new homes on Tiverton Road.

Robert was born in Hillfields in 1951 and ordained as Roman Catholic Priest in 1977. He served in Bicester, Nuneaton, Redditch and as Chaplain to the West Indian community in Birmingham, before returning to his home city of Coventry as Parish Priest of St John Fisher in Wyken in 1995.

In his time at St John Fisher he ministered at St John Fisher and St Gregory primary schools and worked closely with children at Cardinal Wiseman School, as part of his work with the Romero Academy.

He was a lifelong Coventry City fan and a season ticket holder for many years, attending home games when his parish commitments would allow. He ensured the church played a key role in the community and the church was a caring, inclusive and supportive place to worship and learn.

Liz Carr, Robert’s sister and a former teacher at St Augustine’s School, said: “We were delighted to hear that a road was being named after Rob, especially given its proximity to St. John Fisher‘s Church, his home for 25 years.

“He spent many happy years there, serving his parish and the local community, devoting his life to his ministry.

“He was especially happy given that Coventry was his home town, and being a lifelong supporter of Coventry City, he could easily make the home games and get back for Saturday evening mass.

“Whilst he would have been embarrassed at the thought of a road being named after him, his family and friends are really proud, as it is testimony to his hard work and commitment, and the regard he is held in, by all those who knew him.”

Peter Deeley, managing director of Deeley Group, added: “We have been working in the community here in Wyken for many years and for the last quarter of a century Father Bob has been right at the heart of that community.

“It is fitting and rightful honour for a great man who had such a profound impact on those he met and supported during his life. We hope that he would be supportive of our development at Tiverton Road and the creation of new affordable homes for the community which held him in such high regard.”

The new development at Tiverton Road will comprise of 23 affordable rented and 16 shared ownership properties, which will be a mix of two, three and four-bedroom homes.

Matt Crucefix, Director of Development (South and West) at Stonewater, said: “Building new homes should be centred around tackling local housing demand, whilst also enabling new residents to embed themselves within the existing community and its history.

“Naming one of the development’s roads after this highly respected individual is not only a great way to continue celebrating his work in the area but also presents an exciting opportunity for community building with both new and existing residents.”

Deal continues rich history of families working together

Two property experts are following in the footsteps of their grandfathers after completing a deal which aims bring forward new homes in a Warwickshire village.

Eleanor Deeley, deputy managing director of Midlands-based developer the Deeley Group, has optioned on a 4.5 acre site in Long Itchington, with Lucy Quibell (née Holt), director of Holt Property, acting on behalf of the landowner.

The deal continues a rich history of the Deeley and Holt family names working together.

Eleanor’s grandfather, George Deeley, set up business in Coventry in 1936 and one year later Lucy’s grandfather Clifford Holt set up a property business in the Midlands.

A partnership developed and was carried into the next generation with Peter Deeley and David Holt working together on a range of deals across Coventry – including the establishment of the successful Binley Business Park.

Eleanor and Lucy were friends as young children and have gone from playing childhood games together to completing strategic land deals – with this first deal expected to be the start of a fruitful professional relationship, continuing the generations of doing business together.

The deal signals Deeley Group’s intention to expand its already extensive land holdings and develop the footprint of its strategic land team.

Eleanor Deeley said: “Deeley and Holt are trusted and respected names, steeped in the history of the Midlands property industry and our families have been partners on a wide range of projects over the last 85 years.

“For generations we have been doing business together and I’m delighted to be strengthening and continuing that partnership.

“We will be working closely together as Deeley Group looks to bring forward much-needed new homes for the local area on the 4.5 acre site.”

Holt Property is a specialist strategic land and property development agency based in Warwickshire.

The company is currently helping to deliver over 1,500 homes on allocated sites and over 600,000 square feet of allocated employment land and is also advising on a large number of strategic land sites which are being promoted though the planning system.

Lucy Quibell added: “Eleanor and I are the third generation of established property professional Holts and Deeleys, working on providing new homes and employment sites across Warwickshire and the West Midlands, and it is great that we are building on the relationship established by our grandfathers over 80 years’ ago.

“This is a strong site in a wonderful Warwickshire village and Holt Property look forward to working with Deeley Group on bringing it forward for development and working together on future projects.”

PICTURE CAPTION: Eleanor Deeley and Lucy Quibell at the Long Itchington site.

Show home opens at Willow Gardens

Employees at Willow Gardens, a new Housing 21 Extra Care development on Russell Way, celebrated the official opening of its show home last week.

Willow Gardens is Housing 21’s first Extra Care scheme in Chipping Norton and will provide much needed accommodation for local people over the age of 55. The development, under construction by Deeley Construction, will offer 80 one and two bedroom apartments for social rent and shared ownership.

Willow Gardens has been designed to promote independent living in a community setting, with a care team on-site 24/7 to deliver planned care packages if needed. It will offer people over the age of 55 a range of facilities including a communal lounge and gardens. An on-site hair salon and café/bistro for residents will also open to the public.

The scheme has been developed with funding support from the Future Oxfordshire Partnership; in in partnership with West Oxfordshire District Council and Oxfordshire County Council.

Susan Wells, New Homes Sales Manager and Emma Taylor, Housing Manager, both at Housing 21, were joined by Murry Barnett, Strategic Housing & Development Officer at West Oxfordshire District Council, and Cllr. Merilyn Davies, Cabinet Member for Housing and Communities in West Oxfordshire. Paul Marlow, Senior Site Manager at Deeley Construction and Eleanor Deeley, Deputy Managing Director, Deeley Group also attended to officially open the new show home.

Lorraine Jenner, Regional Operations Manager at Housing 21 said: “We are delighted to open this fantastic new show home and can’t wait to hear feedback from the local community.

“Willow Gardens has been built with our residents in mind. The apartments are all fitted out with high quality kitchens, easily accessible mid-height ovens, raised power points and level-access showers, but they are also really stylish and modern. We’re can’t wait to start welcoming people to come and take a look around!

Cllr Merilyn Davies, Cabinet Member for Housing and Communities in West Oxfordshire, said, “As part of our commitment to provide homes that people can afford in the district, this housing scheme is tailor-made for our older residents and to meet their needs. We are pleased that this development will soon be available for our residents.”

Cllr Susan Brown, Chair of the Housing Advisory Group at Future Oxfordshire Partnership, said: “Oxfordshire is a very expensive place to live, so making sure that we are providing opportunities for people to find affordable options at all stages of their lives is vital. I welcome this development in Chipping Norton.”

Eleanor Deeley, Deputy Managing Director at Deeley Group said: “This development is providing vital homes to address the needs of the community in Chipping Norton.

“This is the first Extra Care scheme we have worked on in partnership with Housing 21 and is a fantastic, state-of-the-art development completed to the highest standards. We are proud to use our expertise in delivering Extra care schemes to address the housing requirements of the population in Oxfordshire.”

Construction at the development is expected to complete in Winter 2022.

For further information or to book a viewing, call the New Homes Team on 0345 608 4021 or email newhome@housing21.org.uk.

Deeley secures place on Homes England’s Delivery Partner DPS

Deeley Group has secured a place on Homes England’s new Delivery Partner Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS).

The leading Midlands developer, which is headquartered in Coventry, has been successful in submission to join the platform which will be the key tool for the delivery of Homes England’s housing-led developments.

The firm has been registered in both the small category, which is under 70 units, and the large category, which looks at developments over 70 units.

It means the developer will have the opportunity to bid and price for works across Homes England’s entire framework.

This covers regions including the East Midlands, West Midlands, East of England, South East and South West.

Deeley Group had previously been named on the Homes and Communities Agency DPP3 framework, which enabled the group to secure contracts valued £11 million to deliver extra care facilities in Chipping Norton and Didcot for Housing 21.

The DPP3 framework also saw Deeley deliver a £6.6 million extra-care apartment scheme in Coventry.

In recent years, Deeley Group has delivered 600 new homes and worked with partners including Orbit Homes, Stonewater, Housing 21, and Platform Housing Group on affordable housing developments.

David Currie, Land and Partnerships Director at the Deeley Group, says by securing a place on the new dynamic purchasing system the firm will be able to deliver more affordable housing and healthcare to support communities across the country.

David said: “This is fantastic news for the firm and positions us perfectly to push forward with our future growth strategy to work with our partners to deliver vital affordable housing and healthcare facilities.

“The successful submission with Homes England will also enable Deeley Group to grow  its geographical coverage  across the wider Midlands and work in markets in the South East, East and South West of England.

“We have developed strong partnerships with housing associations in recent years and these partnerships allow us to deliver under Homes England’s new DPS.”

The Willows hits high point

A ‘topping out’ ceremony has been held at a development of 55 new homes for the community in Asfordby.

The Willows  development, which is a partnership between Midlands-based developer Deeley Homes and social housing and care organisation emh, has hit its high point.

It is three miles from Melton Mowbray and will provide a mix of market sale, social rent and shared ownership homes – with the first homes set to be available in 2022.

Fifteen of the homes will be sold privately by Deeley Homes, with emh developing its first market sale units at the development.

More than two thirds of the houses will be classed as affordable homes and contribute to meeting key housing targets in the area.

Eleanor Deeley, Deputy Managing Director at Deeley Group, said: “This is a landmark moment for our development in partnership with emh near Asfordby.

“We’re excited to be launching 15 market sale homes alongside the two types of affordable homes and this approach means that The Willows will cater to a wide range of people in the community.

“Work started on site in February and the project remains on track to be able to welcome residents in 2022.

“The development has been designed with the needs of the area as its priority and will deliver much needed market sale homes and crucial affordable housing options for people living in the Melton Borough Council area.

“As part of the development we have been making a range of local infrastructure improvements and have enhanced the biodiversity of the site by creating wildflower meadows, bird boxes, bat boxes and hedgehog highways.”

Social housing and care organisation emh is a strategic partner of Homes England, giving it access to £172 million in grant funding. Under a flexible development programme, emh aims to deliver 600 new homes a year for the next five years.

Chris Jones, Executive Director of Development at emh, said: “Strong partnerships help us deliver a diverse range of housing across the East Midlands, and we are delighted that residents will soon be moving into our first homes completed with Deeley Homes.

“Every one of our developments has made a lasting impact in the local community, and we are excited to see these affordable rent and shared ownership homes contributing to meeting the housing aspirations of people in the Melton Borough Council area.”

PICTURE CAPTION: Chris Jones (emh) and Eleanor Deeley (Deeley Group) at The Willows.

BLOG: Increasing our affordable homes market share

The Deeley Group is celebrating its 85th anniversary this year. Like most companies with a long history, the nature of what we do and the spheres in which we operate have altered over the years as we have used our areas of expertise to adapt to market conditions.

Any anniversary is a chance to look back and look forward, and we believe we are in for a very exciting future. A significant part of that future will be us increasing the level of affordable housing we both develop and construct for clients.

We believe we are very well placed – for a number of reasons – to increase our market share in what we feel will continue to be a growth market.

We have a long and successful track record in working in partnership with many of the leading affordable homes providers and we have a very strong relationship with them. Homes England has increased its funding and there is greater Government emphasis on delivering housing and ensuring there is sufficient affordable housing.

Therefore, there is a need to deliver more stock and this has meant there is more demand from registered providers and a growth in the rental sector, and we are in a very good position to help deliver against that demand.

It is easy to set ambitions and establish targets, but they have to be deliverable and realistic and we feel we are perfectly placed to grow our affordable homes division.

Firstly, our reputation and relationships in that market are very strong. Our longevity, financial performance and ability to delivery for clients is very well established.

These projects are often long term so is it is vital for providers to be partnered with companies that have a proven track record. The growth in the sector is, inevitably, going to attract people who are, frankly, after a quick buck.

Secondly, providers want to partner with organisations with similar values and outlooks and we are very much a community-focussed company with strong links wherever we operate.

Thirdly, because we have such a strong construction arm it allows us to engineer developments from the outset, meaning there is more value to be gained by working with partners on sites that do not have an existing consent.

Everything starts with land. Everyone talks about construction, modular or traditional building, labour supply – but actually the key ingredient is land. As Mark Twain said “buy land, they’re not making it anymore”.

To that end, we have recruited David Currie, a highly experienced and respected operator in the sector, as a director of the Deeley Group.

David has an excellent track record and he actually used to be my client when I was at CBRE, so we go back a decade, and have a very similar approach.

We do have land but often it has been connected with other developments and will allow for up to around 20 homes on each site, and we need to be working on sites which can take between 30 and 60 homes to help partners make a real impact against their targets.

We are confident that our business plan will see us moving to a stage where affordable homes will account for around 30 per cent of Deeley Group business, while we continue to grow the other areas of the company.

That is clearly a significant growth and, while we will be spelling out our full plans next month, we are investing in the sector and in the people to deliver against this ambition, and that will see us growing staff numbers by between 10 and 15 per cent.

As I said, the anniversary is a celebration of the history and growth of the Deeley Group, but our focus is very much on the future – and it is a very exciting future.

Eleanor Deeley, Deputy Managing Director

Construction begins at new Extra Care housing development for older people in Didcot

A groundbreaking ceremony has marked the start of construction of a new development of affordable homes for over 55s in Didcot, Oxfordshire.

Special guests and representatives met to officially launch the start of work on the new 80 apartment development on land off Greenwood Way at Great Western Park.

The three-storey scheme is being developed by Housing 21, a leading not-for-profit provider of Retirement Living and Extra Care for older people of modest means. It is being built by Deeley Construction and has received funding from the Oxfordshire Housing and Growth deal.

The development will provide 60 rented apartments and 20 shared ownership apartments for people over the age of 55. On site facilities will include a café/ bistro, hair salon and communal lounge for both residents and local people. Work is set to complete in December 2022, with residents due to start moving in from early 2023.

Debbie Hope, Head of Development at Housing 21, said: “We’re thrilled to have reached this exciting milestone in Didcot. This new development will provide much needed, high quality accommodation to support local older people and their changing needs. People have their own front door in a busy community setting, with 24/7 support from our on-site care team if needed.

“We have designed the buildings around an internal courtyard which provides plenty of important, open green space. The development is also in an excellent location close to the many facilities of Great Western Business Park.”

Councillor Jenny Hannaby, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care, said: “I was delighted to be able to attend the groundbreaking event in Didcot. Extra care housing is something I’ve felt very passionately about and have been promoting in the county for some time now. This exciting new scheme will even provide more support for residents countywide.”

Eleanor Deeley, Deputy Managing Director at Deeley Group, added: “It is great to be working in partnership with Housing 21 again and supporting older people in Didcot. This is set to be a fantastic, state of the art development constructed to the highest standards.

“We have delivered many Extra Care schemes and are proud to use our expertise to help address the housing needs of an increasingly ageing population.”

Emily Smith, Chair of the Oxfordshire Growth Board, added: “I’m delighted to see the progress of this excellent project which will help improve the lives of our older local people.

“Extra Care housing offers an excellent way for people to stay in their local area and maintain their independence while being able to access around the clock care and support.”

For more information about Housing 21, visit www.housing21.org.uk

BLOG: Market trends in affordable homes provision

Dean Weldon, Development Manager at Deeley Group, looks at market trends in the provision of affordable homes

The Deeley Group recently outlined its plans for growth and that will see a greater focus on providing affordable homes.

This emphasis is based on market need, our track record in successfully delivering projects, – either on our own or for sector clients – and our in-house capability.

Homes England has increased its funding and there is greater Government emphasis on delivering more homes and ensuring there is sufficient affordable housing – which is what is driving the market.

Therefore, there is a need for more stock and this has meant there is more demand from registered providers. We are in a very good position to help deliver against that demand across all forms of affordable housing – social rent, affordable rent, shared ownership and the recently announced First Homes.

We can – and do – work on projects of all sizes and scales but at present, the ‘sweet-spot’ for the majority of registered providers is in the 30 to 60-unit range.

This is generally due to the numbers being too small for volume builders to get involved.

Some of the more established registered providers are now venturing into larger schemes if they are in particular areas of growth and are willing to push as far as 150-200 units in some cases.

However, once unit numbers exceed 50-60 plots there is often a need to incorporate a percentage of private housing into the scheme as local authorities are hesitant to allow such large affordable-only schemes.

One strategy which is particularly effective related to affordable housing is the Rural Exceptions Policy. This is a national and, in most cases, local policy which allows affordable housing to be delivered outside of settlement boundaries and outside of the development plan.

This policy is relatively restrictive in some places and is often limited in size depending on the size of the settlement. There has been a recent appeal decision where the inspector overturned the local authority’s refusal of a rural exceptions development of 128 homes in Burton-upon-Trent.

This has set a precedent for affordable housing undersupply being given ‘significant weight’ within a planning balance argument and will lead to the delivery of some large sites over the coming years. These sites have even been known to secure planning within the green belt.

The introduction of the new First Homes scheme at the end of June, which is now included within the definition of Affordable Housing, will constitute the first 25 per cent of all on-site provisions going forward.  We are very keen to explore this new model which should present opportunities across the market to offer a more diverse range of affordable homes for the people that need them.

One common theme that we have noticed is that Affordable Housing Providers are now becoming much more commercial given the scale of the grant funding that is available and they are being aggressive in pursuing opportunities which suit their own personal growth ambitions.

We have worked in the affordable and commercial housing sectors and that, along with our experience in construction and development, makes us very well placed to help deliver schemes which will make a telling difference to the housing shortage.

It is also why we see the sector a key to our growth in the medium and longer term.