Best Affordable Housing award for Soha

Soha is thrilled to have won the Best Affordable Housing scheme under £5m at September’s Inside Housing Development Awards.

Soha’s involvement with the developer, Hook Norton Community Land Trust (HNCLT) in North Oxfordshire, enabled the scheme to go ahead. It purchased some net zero carbon affordable homes in order to generate a cross‑subsidy used to deliver a new community hall. The development also features a microgrid providing local energy, the first on a scheme of this size in the country.

Handover of eight homes from the specialist contractor, Greencore Homes, happened in Spring 2024. Greencore developed the concept of a ‘climate positive’ home composed of low-carbon construction coupled with energy-efficiency and low-carbon living and maintains that the highly insulated homes can be heated for as little expense as that of using a hairdryer!

Craig Dransfield, Head of Development at Soha Housing, said: “We are very proud of the homes which will be kept affordable in perpetuity. They were allocated by Cherwell District Council and prioritised for people with a local connection to Hook Norton or one of three neighbouring settlements within four miles. All the homes are already occupied.”