Spring Meadows Drighlington: Construction starts on 20 'Passive House' new homes at former Leeds quarry site

The former quarry site in Drighlington was purchased in 2022 by Leeds-based developer Pure Haus, and gained planning permission in August last year for the construction of the Spring Meadows scheme due to be completed in February 2025.

The ultra-isolated timber frames have now arrived at the site for what will become 20 "eco-family" passive houses, homes built to energy efficient standards meant to maintain an almost constant temperatures, which can reduce energy bills by up to 90%.

Each home will be built to secure an EPC rating A, and will according to Pure Haus outperform building regulations by 10 times, which will land them the official Passive House Certificate.

The homes are priced from £350,000 to £500,000 and will be sold via local estate agent Bridgfords, which a range of detached, semi-detached and townhouse properties available.

Richard Parker, Senior Branch Manager for Bridgfords, commented: “We have already seen interested buyers wanting to know more. Motivated by the ability to save money and live more efficiently, buyers are more and more concerned about the running costs of a home.”

On average, the Spring Meadow homes will be able to save households between 62% and 90% of their annual energy costs and buyers will be able to benefit from cheaper, greener mortgage options.

David Bradley-Bowles, Director of Pure Haus, said: “We’re really pleased to bring these homes to Drighlington and to bring new technology into people’s everyday lives.

"The homes are actually incredibly simple to live in and work cleverly with what’s happening in and around them to maximise energy that already exists.

"They are built to use energy from the sun with large south facing windows, they don’t have a primary heating system but use the heat generated by those living it. The energy is conserved because the homes are well insulated, draft free and do not lose heat from places that are typical for loss in standard homes.

"When we go out into the cold, we dress appropriately for the weather but we don’t currently dress our homes properly meaning a lot of energy is lost and bills are getting higher."

He continued: "Our homes are aimed to help those on average wages to be able to afford a passive house as they’ll benefit the most from the reduction in running costs.

"What makes them even better, is the fact they have a super low embodied carbon footprint, and that’s hugely beneficial to our climate and future generations.”