Work has begun to build much needed affordable homes in Hengrove in South Bristol.

Goram Homes, Bristol City Council's housing company, has appointed award-winning housebuilder, The Hill Group, to deliver the first phase of new homes at Hengrove Park in South Bristol.

Councillor Tom Renhard, Bristol City Council's Cabinet Member for Housing, joined directors from Hill and Goram Homes to break ground at the development on Monday 10th October.

There are over 4,000 households in the south of the city on the housing register. This first stage of this landmark development will start to address the need for affordable one and two-bedroom properties, helping to get people off the housing register and into homes.

The 53 affordable, energy-efficient properties, being built at the entrance of Hengrove Park, comprise 27 apartments for social rent and 26 apartments for shared ownership.

More than 1,430 homes will be built by Goram Homes, and its development partners, on the wider former-airport site, half of which will be affordable. This forms part of Bristol City Council's commitment to support and enable 1000 new affordable homes to be built across the city, each year by 2024.

The masterplan for the project also includes significant improvements to benefit the Hengrove Park community, including new commercial and office spaces, a community centre, sports pavilion, scout hut, an energy centre and the expansion of local transport options.

Subsequent development phases will also include training and employment opportunities for local residents, in partnership with the neighbouring South Bristol Skills Academy, which offers a range of vocational and specialist courses for adults and school leavers in the area.  

Cllr Tom Renhard comments: “This marks the start of a flagship development for South Bristol, which will go on to deliver much-needed new homes for our city. By working together, we can develop high-quality, sustainable homes on council land. This will help more of our citizens access social housing and give more options for affordable home ownership too.”

Stephen Baker, Managing Director at Goram Homes comments: “Hengrove Park will be a highly sustainable residential development, with affordable homes in the numbers our city really needs. We'll also improve local infrastructure, introduce new sustainable transport options and build community facilities to benefit local people. We look forward to engaging with the community as these plans progress.” 

Andy Fancy, Managing Director at The Hill Group, comments: “We are proud to have been selected to work in partnership with Goram Homes to build these homes in Bristol. Today marks the first milestone on site as we break ground to create this exciting new residential quarter.

“We look forward to exploring future ways we can apply our strong expertise in delivering extensive regeneration projects to support the local community and to continue our excellent partnership with Goram Homes and Bristol City Council, helping them achieve their ambitious housebuilding targets for the area.”

Goram Homes was established in 2019 by Bristol City Council to help meet the demand for new housing in the city. Working in partnership with the council and the private sector, Goram Homes aims to create communities which are environmentally, socially and economically sustainable.

The first phase of the development delivers two symmetrical buildings known as Hengrove Bookends, designed to provide an impressive gateway into Hengrove Park thanks to their distinctive architecture and blue brick walls.

Goram Homes' partner on the Hengrove Bookends scheme, award-winning housebuilder The Hill Group, has an impressive track record in delivering large-scale regeneration projects across the UK. Hill has established a strong presence in the South West in recent years, including working with Goram Homes on an additional Bristol scheme at Baltic Wharf on Spike Island.

 ENDS

For media information, contact The Oracle Group PR Agency on Tel: 020 8394 2821 or hill@oraclepr.co.uk

Notes to editors

Goram Homes is a Bristol-based housing company. We work in partnership with the private sector to build sustainable, affordable homes that create communities, respect the environment, and contribute to the local economy. Alongside our development partners, Bristol City Council and local residents, we aim to build homes that transform where and how people live.

Goram Homes is a subsidiary of Bristol Holding Ltd, which is wholly owned by Bristol City Council. For more information about Goram Homes contact Vikki McCann-Rogers, Head of Communications at vikki.mccann-rogers@goramhomes.co.uk

About The Hill Group

Hill is an award-winning housebuilder and one of the leading developers in London, the home counties, and the south, delivering both private for sale and affordable homes.  

Now in its 24th year, this family-owned and operated company has grown to establish itself as the UK's second-largest privately-owned housebuilder, with an impressive and diverse portfolio of schemes ranging from landmark, mixed-use regeneration schemes and inner-city apartments to homes in rural communities. 

Employing over 750 staff, the company operates from five strategically located regional offices, with its head office based in Waltham Abbey, Essex. 

Hill anticipates completing over 2,800 homes in 2022 and has a controlled land bank with planning consent of over 4000 units. Around half of the development portfolio is in joint venture to deliver a range of mixed tenure developments, reflecting Hill's commitment to partnerships with government, local authorities, housing associations and private clients. 

Hill has won over 460 industry awards in the past 23 years, including Best Medium Housebuilder at the Housebuilder Awards in 2020 and 2021. Hill also won Best Home, Best Sustainable Development and Best Medium Housebuilder at the WhatHouse? Awards 2021 and has won WhatHouse? Housebuilder of the Year twice. Most recently, Hill was awarded two 2022 Housing Design Awards for Agar Grove Phase 1A and 1B with Camden Council, and Fish Island Village, Hill's landmark joint venture in Hackney with Peabody. In addition, Hill has been awarded the 5-star status in the Home Builders Federation's annual Customer Satisfaction Survey for the past five years. 

The Hill Group is donating 200 fully equipped modular homes to local authorities and homeless charities as part of a £15m pledge through its Foundation 200 programme, launched in 2019 to mark Hill's 20th anniversary.

Follow Hill on LinkedIn and Instagram @Hill_Group_uk

For media information, contact The Oracle Group PR Agency on Tel: 020 8394 2821 or hill@oraclepr.co.uk