New community takes shape at Beechfield View

One of the most exciting new communities in the South-West is beginning to take shape, with residents speaking of their delight at moving into their new homes at Beechfield View in Torquay.

Sovereign Living’s eye-catching development offers 144 homes that provide a mix of apartments and houses for open market sale, shared ownership and rent. The development includes eight wheelchair-adapted units and a block of 25 apartments of older people.

Beechfield has been built by Sovereign in partnership with Torbay Council, which has given the land and £270,000 in funding, and the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), which has contributed £7.2 million in funding.

Councillor David Thomas, Executive Lead for Strategic Planning, Housing and Energy, said: “Providing good quality housing for the residents of Torbay remains a high priority for Torbay Council and this scheme is an excellent example. It is clear that residents who have moved into this new development are already starting to enjoy the benefits this new development brings.”

Paul Britton, Area Manager at the HCA, said: “It's really great news that residents are quickly settling into their new homes. It’s clear when you see the development that they’ve been built to a very high standard and is a real credit to the town.”

Each home at Beechfield View meets the Secured by Design and Building for Life standards, with the homes for general needs rent also achieving levels four and five of the Code for Sustainable Homes. Among the sustainable featuresare photovoltaic roof panels to provide electricity, mechanical ventilated heat recovery systems to recycle heat within each home, rainwater harvesting, triple glazing and permeable paving.

At Beechfield View there are 144 homes comprising:

• 65 General needs rent of which 8 are suitable for wheelchair users
• 42 Open market sale, including 6 FirstBuyand 14 Help to Buy homes (government-backed equity loan schemes to help first-time buyers to purchase a home)
• 20 discounted market rent for key workers
• 17 Shared ownership