Green homes to boast zero carbon rating

THE first bricks of some of Oldham’s greenest homes have been laid — sparking what could be a new generation of energy-saving houses.

Four out of 93 homes on a 2.2 hectare plot in St Mary’s are being built to a zero-carbon standard offering big benefits to the environment.

Two “Passivhaus” properties will also be built — a German standard using building materials with high thermal efficiency — reducing the need for traditional central heating.

St Mary’s was previously home to deck-access flats, demolished a decade ago.


WORK has also begun on a new £8.5 million investment programme to build 65 new affordable rented homes.



Representatives from Aksa Homes, local councillors and government officials visited three different developments sites in the town as diggers lowered their buckets to begin work.

Twenty-nine should be finished by spring, 2013; 12 at the Owl Mill development in Lees; 11 at Whiteley Street and six three-bed stone houses at Buckley Street, site of the former Uppermill police station.