A NEW build housing site in Thirsk has defied odds during the lockdown period to become one of the region’s highest performing developments, agreeing 19 house sales throughout May and June.

Despite the pandemic, there has been a continued appetite for house hunting in Taylor Wimpey’s Lime Gardens and the firm has enabled house hunters to watch presentations and have virtual tours of houses with sales executives also on hand.

More recently, socially distanced show home viewings have been available on an appointment basis and a culmination of these measures has meant success for the site.

Site manager Graeme Arnott is also celebrating a prestigious national house-building award. Out of 11,000 entries, Mr Arnott was honoured with a NHBC (National House-Building Council) Pride in the Job Quality Award.

The awards recognise an individual’s dedication to building high-quality homes for new homebuyers and are presented following a rigorous judging which includes assessing the developments throughout the year and spot checks.

Mr Arnott said: “I’m delighted to have won a Quality Award. It’s a fantastic honour, not just for me, but for the whole team at Lime Gardens. They all work incredibly hard and take great pride in ensuring that the homes we build are completed to the highest possible standards.”

Pride in the Job is the only UK-wide awards scheme that recognises the significant contribution of site managers who achieve the highest standards in new home construction, raising the build quality of new homes in the UK for 40 years.

Regarding the recent success of Graeme and the Lime Gardens development, Steven Ball, sales and marketing director for Taylor Wimpey North Yorkshire, added: “We’re very proud of the team and it has been fantastic to see them adapt and perform excellently despite very challenging circumstances.

“Everything is new for us at the moment and the most important thing is the safety of our customers - thankfully, we have measures in place which enables them to complete their purchase safely after discussions with our sales executives.”