Net Zero Housing Development Approved

Proposals for Scotland’s largest ‘Net Zero’ housing development, to be located in Edinburgh, have been given approval by Edinburgh City Council.

The 444-home Western Villages development is being led by the council working in partnership with Glasgow-based CCG (Scotland) and architect Cooper Cromar.

The new development will form part of the Granton Waterfront Regeneration, where more than 3,500 homes are set to be built in the next ten years. It will have one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, including wheelchair accessible ground floor apartments, with a mix of social (195), mid-market rent (62), market rent (63) and private sales (124) tenures.

City of Edinburgh Council’s Vice Convener for the Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work committee, Councillor Mandy Watt, said: “All of the steps we’re taking to make homes more sustainable will reduce the energy they use once occupied, thereby helping us to tackle climate change and become net zero carbon by 2030. That’s why we’re pleased to have CCG working with us as they adopt a new ground-breaking housebuilding standard.

“It’s great to see this development with a large proportion of social rent homes get planning approval. We have incredibly ambitious plans which form the bedrock of our housing strategy over the next ten years. There is a critical need for more affordable homes in Edinburgh and we are responding to that through the commitment to build 20,000 social and affordable homes by 2027.

Western Villages forms part of the wider £1.3bn Granton Waterfront Regeneration project which will create one of Europe’ s largest coastal city parks, providing opportunities for residents and visitors to reconnect with the city’s waterfront by offering more areas for leisure and outdoor experiences, civic spaces and sustainable housing.”

Designed within a masterplan that will take advantage of stunning parkland and sea views, there will also be greater emphasis placed on pedestrian and cycle movement with electrical car charging, car club accessibility and public transport in favour of traditional car parking, which is reduced across the development.

The homes are being designed to the principles of CCG’s newly launched ‘Net Zero Home’ housebuilding standard. Developed in collaboration with energy and sustainability consultancy, Carbon Futures, the Net Zero Home focuses on enhanced fabric performance, low carbon heating and renewable technology as part of a gas-free energy strategy to reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions (arising from regulated operational energy use) to a rate less than or equal to zero per year.

CCG Managing Director, David Wylie, said: “Housebuilding is going to play a major part in achieving our ambitious target of becoming a ‘net zero’ economy by 2045. With gas being removed from new build homes as early as 2024, it places greater emphasis on collaborative working as the partners on this project have demonstrated; utilising the CCG Net Zero Home building standard to create an affordable, scalable and practical solution that can ultimately be delivered now for any residential development.

“We commend the City of Edinburgh Council for their bold commitment and share their aspirations for a more sustainable future for Scotland.”

Construction of Western Villages is expected to begin in mid-2022.

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