House number 3 FOR SALE AVAILABLE NOW 2025
How to buy: Contact us.
A rare opportunity to buy an Eco-house in Hockerton Housing Project: Community living in an eco development, access to extensive outside space, food growing, low carbon energy supply, community building and resources, house and private garden with room for a family 4/5 bedrooms, on site work/income available, resilient against climate shocks, near to great schools and facilities, low impact living, talk to us now:
One of the most energy efficient homes in the UK, nestled in the rural village of Hockerton, near the bustling country town of Southwell and in the Hockerton Housing Project a world-renowned sustainable development. It sits in the heart of the community here. You can join the change with us. See “How to Join”
We all value clean air and a good place to live, specially to bring up children. An ideal place to grow up in as a child. This home offers a fantastic opportunity to live in a house fit for the future. Warm and comfortable living with built in resilience and community all around. The house space is flexible and full of light with a very spacious conservatory to the south.
BUY YOUR ECO HOME IN HOCKERTON
It is built based on the earth sheltered high mass designs of world renown architects Dr Robert and Prof Brenda Vale. This is a very rear chance to live the dream in a sustainable development.
So how to buy this eco home 3 Gables Drive Hockerton. Please make enquiries via our email address contact@hockertonhousingproject.org.uk . We can send you the brochure, arrange a viewing and enable you to meet the neighbours. It will be available to move into from March 2025.
This home can align your values with your living space, it’s a house fit for the future. The garden overlooks the lake, spacious and teaming with wildlife. There is also the opportunity to join the community business and share the facilities; Wind turbines, PV systems and self-contained water works.
The local pub is just a short walk away. Southwell just over the hill and offers good schools, shops, restaurants and many other amenities within a thriving community.
As Simon said “This is the largest house in the development and offers the most space for a family. The super insulated earth sheltered design with an internal heat battery works very well indeed at keeping heating bills to a minimum and the environmental impact low. It is adaptable to a 4 or 5 bedroom home suitable for families. It would be an ideal place to grow up in!”
Full details available in the sale brochure upon request.
We are helping the owners sell this property so Contact us now before it’s gone to arrange a viewing and put your offer in.
Property Location:
3 Gables Drive, Hockerton, Southwell, Notts NG25 0QU.
Tenure: 999-year lease with annual peppercorn rent in perpetuity.
Price: TBC will take offers.
Eco homes or passive house or green houses come with many names but this is a very special opportunity!
Contact us now before it’s gone to arrange a viewing and put in your offer.
Describing Howgate Close as eco-homes is to understate its performance. Most notable are these five 2-bed homes and four 1-bed homes, all operate beyond zero carbon. They are on the outskirts of Eakring a rural village near Southwell/Ollerton in Nottinghamshire.
Design Origin Of Howgate’s Eco Homes
Hockerton Housing Project (HHP) design for the Eakring Eco Homes project, uses the design principles applied at HHP. The HHP’s Architects, are Professors Brenda and Robert Vale, The Vale’s. Check out HHP building standards and FAQ
These design principles were first published in The Vale’s 1975 book, ‘The Autonomous House’, and implemented at their former Southwell home, ‘The New Autonomous House’. It’s worth noting, that over 40 years later, The Vale’s design principles have been applied less than 7 miles from The Vale’s former home. To their credit, on July 27th, 1994, their Southwell home became the UK’s first dwelling to export photovoltaic-generated renewable energy to the National Grid.
“What makes the Eakring (Eco Homes) project truly exceptional is the unique combined experience of the HHP design team. A team that has twenty-four years of designing, constructing, maintaining, and servicing the UK’s largest collection of autonomous earth-sheltered buildings.”
Final Assessment Report
Compliance with Condition 12
Newark & Sherwood District Council
July 2019
Prior to construction, Dr Parsons undertook technical adjustments to the approved design raising the EPC Rating from a SAP Rating of 84 to 143.
Design Principles
Introduced in detail below, are Howgate’s design principles. Also provided is third-party verification of their performance via the Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP).
Passive Solar Design Techniques
Intrinsic to the buildings performance, is the utilisation of the passive solar design principles pioneered by The Vale’s. HHP’s application of these techniques include;
- Southerly orientation
- High thermal mass superstructure
- Super-insulated envelope
- Renewable energy
- Solid external walls (no cavities)
- Floating slab (no foundations)
- Contiguous external insulated envelope (no cold bridging)
- Triple glazing
- Reduced reliance on mechanical ventilation
- Externally located window and door jambs (improved Psi values)Hot water demand at source (no stored hot water)
- Back-up electric underfloor heating
For the record, Dr. Parsons first conceived the idea of his replicable development solution in 2015. His intention was to resolve several local issues that have both national and global significance. He observed, a shortage of local affordable rural homes and a progressively diminishing bio-diversity in the surrounding Nottinghamshire countryside.
Eradication of the risk of fuel poverty was a priority for Dr Parsons while nurturing a conducive neighbourhood that mitigates greenhouse gas emissions. He succeeded in his aims. Additional aspects of the model comprise, taking 10 acres out of intensive arable farming, constructs nine homes for rent and installs 60KW’s of solar panels (142 panels) He’s also planting 10,000 trees and hedgerow, creating wildflower meadows, scrubland, and a wetland.
“..an opportunity to address some of society’s most pressing issues: rural housing shortages, climate change, soil restoration, carbon sequestration, biodiversity, water management, and community cohesiveness.”
Dr. Parsons
(as reported in CLA Magazine)
Furthermore, this Case Study demonstrates these eco homes are a viable alternative to conventional social housing and affordable homes. Equally important, they also deliver a new level of energy efficiency and carbon mitigation associated with Eco Homes or Zero Carbon Homes.
“Howgate Close epitomises the aims of the Councils De-Carbonisation Plan and would encourage more of the same.”
John Robinson
(CEO Newark & Sherwood District Council)
2023
Eco Homes Provide An Acceptable Return On Investment (ROI)
In evaluating the viability of Dr. Parsons model, it’s useful to refer to Howgate’s Return On Investment (ROI). Usefully, the model’s efficiency of investment is assessed on several levels; economic, carbon emissions, social and community integration.
First, at an economic level, Howgate achieves a 5% ROI with a 20-year payback period (Amortisation) using conventional financial performance measures.
Second, carbon emissions provide another performance metric with national and global implications. According to the nine Energy Performance Certificates (EPC’s), the homes collectively mitigate 16 tonnes of carbon emissions each year from their renewable energy generation. Adding a further 9 tonnes annually of carbon sequestration annually is the re-wilding of 9 acres. Consequently, the site’s Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) will likely exceed Natural England’s soon-to-be mandatory minimum 10% benchmark.
Furthermore, full financial benefits of the 60KW’s of roof-mounted photovoltaics are given to Howgate’s residents. Consequently, first 10 months’ energy bills, average less than £1 per day across all nine homes. 54pence/day as of 12th July 2023.
It should be noted that Dr Parsons investment returns at Howgate Close compare favourably to their financial cost.
Luke Jackson Eagle Building Specialists– Builder of Howgate Close
It was interesting to catch up with Luke to see how he found the challenge of the build we will be doing a more in-depth blog with Luke next, so this is just a taster.
“The general technology wasn’t a challenge as I was familiar with Hockerton Housing Project, it excited me. The lads working for me were far more sceptical it wasn’t until a winters day when the buildings were airtight that they started to appreciate how warm they were. In the end the proof was in the pudding as they say. In all honesty even I didn’t quite realise how efficient they would be!”
