Ringswell Avenue, Exeter

Lovell is creating 60 affordable homes for its partner LiveWest on land off Ringswell Avenue in Exeter.

The 1.5 hectare site was originally home to St Lukes High School – and was left available following the construction of St Nicholas Catholic Primary School.

The Ringswell Avenue site is close to Exeter city centre with Lovell transforming the area into eco-friendly homes for LiveWest, the largest housing association in the south west.

The development has benefited from grant-funding from government housing agency Homes England through a strategic programme. The Affordable Homes Programme 2021-26 provides organisations such as LiveWest with grants to provide much needed affordable homes across the country.

The scheme received £4m grant funding from Homes England.

At Ringswell Avenue, the high-quality, low carbon homes are being offered on a variety of tenures – 35 of the homes will be for social rent and 25 for shared ownership.

A key focus of the new development has been for Lovell to bring LiveWest’s eco strategy to life with the new development providing sustainable homes and providing wider transport benefits to residents. 

As part of its Creating Greener Futures Together strategy, LiveWest is committed to providing its buyers and tenants with sustainable homes with neighbourhoods and communities at the heart of the strategy.

LiveWest manages more than 38,000 homes across the south west and was one of the first housing associations in the country to launch an environmental blueprint with measurable target which is at the heart of development at Ringswell Avenue where Lovell is also the appointed renewable energy specialist.

Examples of this strategy include:

• All homes insulated to a higher standard than required by building regulations
• All homes will have a SAP (energy efficiency score) of at least 86
• Solar photovoltaic panels on every home to generate their own electricity
• Electric car charging points
• Public open spaces
• Extensive planting to create a pleasant residential environment
• Cycle parking for residents and visitors
• Central location designed to encourage residents to leave cars at home and walk or cycle to work
• The construction methods have seen CO2 levels drop from 1140-720 tonnes on the development – a reduction of 36 per cent.

The sustainability of the homes is set to provide residents with more than just great design but also lower electricity bills – at a time of continued rising prices.

There is extra insulation in floors, walls and lofts to boost the energy efficiency and the timber framed construction is also a key factor in creating the sustainable homes.

“Reducing electricity bills is a positive step to address fuel poverty. Investing in installing solar panels from the outset guarantees we have all the necessary infrastructure is in place, to enable any future upgrades when technology improves even further.”

 Adam Preece, New Business Manager for LiveWest