Approval for £11m housing scheme in Newtownards
A NEW £11m housing scheme in Newtownards has been granted planning approval.
The development, on Manse Road, includes 43 detached homes on a site in the west of the town near Ards Shopping Centre.
The planning committee at Ards and North Down Borough Council signed off on the application by Antrim Construction Company (ACC) on Tuesday evening. The homes are expected to go on the market priced from £200,000 to £350,000.
It comes as ACC prepares to unveil an early preview of the homes in its £60m Belmont Hall development in Antrim. The home builder’s scheme will eventually include 400 houses on the bank of the Six Mile Water River.
The first phase of the development is expected to include up to 15 houses ranging from £135,000 to £187,500. Given the interest in the scheme, ACC says it has harnessed new technology such as virtual reality to show how the finished houses will look, offering prospective buyers the chance to secure an ‘off the plan’ home.
“We have had an encouraging level of interest from potential home buyers even before our plans were made public,” said ACC director Peter McMullan.
“We have been building new homes across Northern Ireland and in particular Antrim for more than 50 years. There has been a complete sea change, not only in how new homes are constructed but how technology can assist potential buyers picture their dream home even before the first brick is in place.”
The homes in the first phase release of Belmont Hall will go on sale from Simon Brien Residential on February 16.
Meanwhile ACC’s director of construction, David Magee, said the firm was delighted to have finally achieved planning permission on its site in Manse Road, Newtownards.
“We acquired the site with an existing permission, but wanted to improve on the layout by replacing apartments and semi-detached houses with 43 detached family homes that are in demand in the area and better reflect the surrounding neighbourhood.”