The first Council housing project in Bradford for 30 years – and the district’s first zero-carbon homes – have scooped a regional sustainability award.

The Pavilion Gardens 45-home development at West Bowling was officially opened two months ago. Twelve of the properties were the first in Yorkshire to reach level six of the Government’s Code for Sustainable Homes.

The homes feature solar photo-voltaic panels, a communal biomass boiler and high levels of insulation designed to make them carbon-neutral and reduce energy bills by an average of £500 a year.

The remaining 33 homes were built to level four and are fitted with solar panels and harvest rainwater.

Bradford Council and the Homes and Communities Agency jointly funded the £5.6 million scheme, which was built by Lovell.

The company has now picked up the Legacy Award for Sustainability at this year’s Yorkshire and Humber Construction Best Practice awards.

In awarding the prize, the judges said: “Lovell achieved a level of sustainability on a scale that has not been readily achieved elsewhere and should be used as a blueprint for others to follow.”

Councillor Val Slater, the Council’s executive member with responsibility for housing, said: “It is a terrific achievement for the Pavilion Gardens development to be honoured at these awards.

“We should be proud such pioneering work is being carried out in Bradford, especially as the scheme involved a number of local firms.”