Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council Semi Reverse

Doncaster Housing - Phase 2

Project value: £22 million

Sector: Housing

Local labour within 20 miles: 66%

Local spend within 20 miles: 66%

Number of student site visits: 197

Work experiences 18+ years: 22

Apprentices created: 29

Progression into employment: 100%

National vocational qualifications: 7

Number of university students working on research projects: 9

We are really pleased with how the Doncaster build programme is progressing. The workmanship is excellent and the dedicated team is great to work with."

Charlotte Johnson

Housing Programme Manager | Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council

305 new affordable homes across 14 sites in Doncaster.

This housing project was an essential requirement for Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council’s growth and improvement, to meet the borough’s current and future housing needs with a target of delivering an estimated 920 homes per annum.

The new homes seek to address the shortage of affordable homes for larger families and have been built over three years, with the project completing in summer 2019.

Through our Major Works framework as the chosen procurement route (since superseded by our National Construction framework, Major Works – England & Northern Ireland), significant cost and time savings were achieved, as well as a strong commitment from the local supply chain for the entire programme rather than on a project by project basis.

By using standardised components and processes through Willmott Dixon’s Yellow Book approach, not only was a consistent quality finish achieved across multiple sites, but Doncaster Borough Council benefited from certainty and reliability of cost, and increased speed of delivery across the programme.

Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council had already worked to produce eight ‘standard’ house types that it wanted to use across multiple sites.

To fulfil their criteria, the new homes are a mix of one, two, three and four bedroom apartments, houses and bungalows built to Lifetime Homes standard: ordinary homes designed to incorporate 16 design criteria as the industry standard. They include units that can be easily split or merged to give flexibility of property size where required.

Each design feature adds to the comfort and convenience of the home and supports the changing needs of individuals and families at different stages of life.

Delivering designs within budget

The project team reviewed the initial design and provided alternative proposals with value engineering options ensuring the project could be delivered on budget.

On-site

All sites are situated within residential areas, which proved challenging for road closures and pedestrians using the areas. Therefore, effective logistical planning was the key to the successful delivery of this programme and the dispersed schemes are being progressed on a staggered basis, with four sites in progress at any given time.

Number of school/college/university student site visits – 197
Number of school/college/students attending workshops – 429
Number of university students working on site related research projects – 9
Work experiences 18+ years – 22
Apprentices existing – 29
National vocational qualifications – 7
Short courses – 431
Progression into employment - 100 per cent

Bristol Grove won Social Housing Development of the Year at The Bricks Awards 2018 (LABC) which rewards developers, housing associations and contractors for delivering exceptional housing projects.

Willow Grove is also shortlisted for a national Inside Housing Development Award for Best Affordable Housing development with the winners announced in late November 2018.

Using standard elements ensured we gave Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council reliable prices, and a palette of materials and products that allowed us to respond to any variations as they arose. This provided certainty, gave consistency of quality and ensured we were well prepared for later phases."

Stuart Kerr

Operations Director | Willmott Dixon

9/10

Client satisfaction

66%

Local spend within 20 miles

Apprentices created