HOUSEBUILDER Miller Homes has opened its first 100% solar panel housing development in the North East.

Greenvale Park – a 93-home, five-acre development near Stamfordam Road in Newcastle, is the group’s first site where all of the homes have been built to code level three standard – representing a significant reduction in CO² emissions.

All of the homes have a number of eco-friendly features, including photovoltaic solar panels on the roof, enhanced insulated wall and roof spaces, rotary clothes driers, efficient boilers, low-energy lighting and water butts in the gardens.

A percentage of homes on the development belong to the Riverside Group as part of a housing association scheme and are set to be four star-rated for their overall sustainability, making them 44% more energy efficient than standard new homes.

Miller Homes worked with Teesside-based energy installer Dodd Group which supplied the solar panels, as well as specialist property lawyers at Wragge and Co, which assisted with the land acquisition process and Newcastle-based law firm Ward Hadaway, which will now support the plot sales.

Tony Johnson, Miller Homes North East commercial director, said: “Greenvale Park is a really environmentally-friendly development, which sets new standards for cost-effective, sustainable homes.

“And we are excited that the North East is to be home to the first 100% solar housing development built by Miller Homes.

“Code for sustainable homes is the national standard for the sustainable design and construction of new homes.

“The code aims to reduce our carbon emissions and create homes that are more sustainable.”