Work begins on second affordable Passivhaus housing scheme in Salford

Work has begun on Willohaus, a second affordable Passivhaus housing scheme in Salford, that will bring 100 high quality, sustainable one and two-bedroomed homes to the city.

Designed to be as environmentally friendly as possible and help residents reduce their fuel bills, the apartments at Willohaus on Peru Street are being delivered by ECF – our joint venture with Legal & General and Homes England – alongside Salford housing association, Salix Homes.

They will form part of the £2.5bn Crescent Salford regeneration, which is a partnership between ECF, Salford City Council and the University of Salford.

At Muse, responsible regeneration – and creating places that are built to last – is central to everything we deliver.

Willohaus, the second collection of sustainable, affordable apartments ECF has brought forward alongside Salix Homes following the completion of Greenhaus on Chapel Street, will provide a comfortable environment for residents through its high-quality construction and sustainable design features.

As a result of being built to Passivhaus Classic certified standard, those living in Willohaus will benefit from reduced energy bills of up to 90% compared to traditional housing, at the same time limiting their own carbon footprints.

Its design – incorporating Juliette balconies to create a connection between internal and outside areas, and storage for 100 bikes – will also help foster a sustainable, cohesive, and vibrant community that encourages interaction and togetherness.

By building places that are fit-for-the-future and help to address the demand for affordable, eco-friendly housing, we’re helping lead the industry towards a greener and more sustainable tomorrow.

Speaking about the commencement of works at Willohaus, Joe Stockton, Senior Development Manager, said:

Salford housing association Salix Homes, which owns 8,000 homes across Salford, is the housing partner for Willohaus, working alongside ECF. The landlord secured grant funding from Homes England and Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), alongside its own investment, with the new homes forming part of Salix Homes’ wider ambitions to deliver more affordable and sustainable accomodation across Salford.

Liam Turner, Executive Director of Assets, Growth and Sustainability at Salix Homes, said:

“Following on from the Greenhaus development, we’ve established a solid partnership with ECF to build more affordable homes in Salford that are high quality, cleaner and greener.

“Passivhaus is the gold standard for energy efficient buildings and construction, so we’re incredibly proud to be part of another ground-breaking development that will deliver desperately needed new and affordable homes in Salford which are better for the environment, support our carbon neutral ambitions, and help reduce fuel poverty for residents.

“Both Greenhaus and Willohaus represent a new era of new-build, affordable, and eco-friendly homes that are fit-for-the-future and contribute towards the battle against climate change, while helping to tackle the housing crisis.”

Tom Stannard, CEO, Salford City Council, commented:

“It is such great news to see works starting on another eco-friendly development in our city. The incredible Passivhaus standards will see residents using much less energy and in turn paying much less for their energy bills. I’d like to thank all our partners for their hard work as we work to be a zero-carbon city by 2038.”

Tom Hawley, Head of Affordable Housing Growth – North at Homes England, added:

“Willohaus will not only be a very high quality and high energy performance building, it will also bring 100 affordable homes for rent into this significant regeneration scheme.

“This demonstrates how flexible the Government’s Affordable Homes Programme can be to meet local need for affordable housing as well as contributing to reducing the carbon footprint from housing. The project shows great vision and partnership working from all involved.”

Willohaus is the first Passivhaus-certified development to benefit from funding through the new ‘trailblazer’ devolution protocols, which have seen GMCA given greater powers and funding to enable more truly affordable net-zero homes, via the Affordable Homes Programme.

The homes are being built by lead contractor Eric Wright Construction, and have been designed by architects Buttress. Both companies also worked on the 96-home Greenhaus development which completed in March 2024.