Rural Housing Case Studies

Case Study 1: Townfoot, Lesbury

Isos worked closely with land owner Northumberland Estates, Northumberland County Council and Lesbury Parish Council on the £1.65m Townfoot development of 12 houses and bungalows in the prosperous Northumbrian village of Lesbury. The development was made possible by funding of £930,000 from the Homes & Communities Agency (HCA).

In the summer of 2010, the average house price in the Alnwick area stood at £219,923, a massive 22% above the Northumberland average, effectively pricing many local families out of the area.
The Townfoot homes were more than five times oversubscribed when they were advertised on the Northumberland Homefinder allocation system.

The development was shortlisted for a national HCA award in the rural housing category.

Work started on the development in 2006 and was completed in the spring of 2010.

The houses were built by contractor NB Clark, with project management from Faithful & Gould on land Isos acquired from Northumberland Estates. The development was designed by Christopher Brummitt Architects.

John Turnbull from the strategic housing team at Northumberland County Council and Tom Wilson, the chair of Lesbury Parish Council visited the site every six weeks during construction.

The parish council kept residents up to date with the development in its bi-monthly newsletters, and delivered welcome packs to all the new residents in the Townfoot homes on arrival in the village.