What a brilliant way to end the week, with not one but TWO award wins at the WhatHouse? Awards 2023 

🏆 **Best Starter Home Scheme - GOLD**

🏆 **Best Small Housebuilder - BRONZE**

We are so proud of the success of our starter homes initiative, designed to help young people onto the property ladder and experience the joy and the security of owning their first home - priced at 20 per cent less than the market value under our starter homes scheme.

A bronze award for Best Small Housebuilder is also a fantastic recognition for our four developments in Netherthong, Shepley, Skelmanthorpe and Denby Dale. We're delighted to be making a positive contribution to the housing provision in the Kirklees and West Yorkshire area.

Congratulations to all winners and those shortlisted at today's awards ceremony.

![](https://a.storyblok.com/f/197182/2244x1890/7e5fc42e0e/wha23_logo_goldwinner.jpg)

![](https://a.storyblok.com/f/197182/2244x1890/f5c129960b/wha23_logo_bronzewinner.jpg)

© Philippa Gedge Photography

WhatHouse? Award Success!

WhatHouse Awards Success

Valley Cottages

Valley cottages

The Ridge

the ridge

The Pennine

the pennine

The Barrow

the barrow

The Fell

the fell

The Mill

the-mill

The Fell 

the fell wbc

Just as each of our locations has its distinct community, each of our properties has its own unique features – including individual plot positions to avoid uniform rows of houses. See what’s on the market to find the perfect home for you and your family.

To celebrate the season of love, we have fabulous offers on three plots across our Shepley and Skelmanthorpe sites throughout February.

We have three superb three-bedroom homes, ready to move into, with premium carpets and flooring already fitted. What’s more, we’ll pay your stamp duty – just think how handy that extra cash will be! *

Designed with couples in mind, these homes feature contemporary kitchen/diners with integrated Zanussi appliances, Rangemaster sinks and under-cabinet lighting spots. The living rooms boast bi-fold/French doors opening onto the rear terrace and garden – the perfect retreat for enjoying sunny days. Additionally, each home includes a spacious storeroom, downstairs WC and parking for two cars as well as the highest standard of fixtures and fittings. All bathrooms feature luxurious Porcelanosa tiles. 

Plot 4 at Knowle Grange, Shepley is a 3-storey semi-detached house with a single detached garage, built from our signature Yorkshire stone, with an additional parking space for another vehicle. The stylish kitchen/diner hosts a light grey contemporary style with marble laminate worktops. Can’t wait to wind down after a long day? The bathroom - featuring Porcelanosa tiles in Madagascar Blanco and a vanity unit in Grey Ash - is the perfect place to do so.

**[VIEW PLOT 4, SHEPLEY NOW](/homes/knowle-grange/the-fell-plot-4)**

Plot 6 at Knowle Grange boasts privacy, as the detached property is not overlooked. It also has a gorgeous south-facing garden – perfect for soaking up the summer sun (when the British weather permits!) The open plan kitchen/diner with its Karndean flooring, has upgraded cashmere coloured shaker style cupboards and marble laminate worktops – a great place to work on your culinary skills! 

**[VIEW PLOT 6, SHEPLEY NOW](/homes/knowle-grange/the-pennine)**

Plot 11 at Whistle Bell Court, Skelmanthorpe, has amazing views and is designed for modern professional living. The first floor consists of two double bedrooms and the house bathroom. On the second floor, you will find a generous principal bedroom and en-suite. The south west facing garden is great for entertaining and an aid to work life balance. All in all, the energy efficiency savings you will make on this new build property, together with its sale price, make this property an all-round incredible deal. 

**[VIEW PLOT 11, SKELMANTHORPE NOW](/homes/whistle-bell-court/the-fell-wbc)**

These enticing offers are perfect for those who are ready to move and wish to settle into their new Yorkshire Country Properties home by spring. Just imagine the possibilities and the savings you’ll make!

Join us at our Experience Hub at Knowle Grange, Shepley, HD8 8GL from 12th February where we’ll be celebrating Valentine’s Day every day of the week. Enjoy a glass of bubbles as you explore our ‘ready to move into’ properties and arrange to walk the site with one of our friendly sales advisers.

Celebrate love this Valentine’s Day by making your move to a Yorkshire Country Properties home, where cherished moments await you. 

*𝘛𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘴 & 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘺. 𝘖𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘷𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘗𝘭𝘰𝘵𝘴 4 & 6, 𝘒𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦 𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘗𝘭𝘰𝘵 11, 𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘉𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘵. 𝘝𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 01.02.24 - 29.02.24

Celebrate love with our February Valentine’s offers: Stunning homes ready to move into, plus stamp duty paid!

The news that Huddersfield boasts the fastest rising house prices in the UK has been endorsed by an award-winning residential property developer, based in the West Yorkshire town.

According to mortgage provider Halifax, the Huddersfield area is a “house price hotspot”, where the average property has risen in value by just under nine per cent during the past 12 months.

Paul Brown, managing director of Yorkshire Country Properties, said that the Halifax report came as no surprise.

He commented: “Huddersfield, and the picturesque villages which surround the town, tick so many boxes. Houses here offer superb value for money, bearing in mind their excellent location, their beautiful surroundings and their first-class facilities. What a magnificent combination of factors.

“The lifestyle offering is unbeatable. Together with attractive country walks and historic pubs, there are also quality schools, thriving independent shops and a lively social scene. What’s more, it’s within easy reach of Leeds, Manchester and Sheffield, with city life on your doorstep, without paying a city’s higher property premiums.

Located in the foothills of the Pennines, Huddersfield is perhaps best known for its stunning scenery and quaint outlying villages – the perfect setting for television classics like Last of The Summer Wine and Where The Heart Is. 

Paul continued: “In the past, Huddersfield has had the reputation of being a small northern town, famous for being the birthplace of Rugby League and the home of Harold Wilson and Patrick Stewart. But it’s now acknowledged as being much more than this. 

“It boasts a panoramic landscape of beautiful scenery with rolling hills, Pennine views and historical landmarks. Each village within a 15-mile radius of the town has its own identity with hidden gems to explore, great communities to be part of and unique places to eat and drink.”

Paul Brown, whose company won two major honours at the prestigious WhatHouse? Awards in December, explained: “At the same time as this tremendous news about house prices in the Huddersfield area, comes more positivity about the housing market across the UK, driven by a stability in interest rates and a fall in inflation.”

Sam McGregor, head of sales at Yorkshire Country Properties, continued: “At Yorkshire Country Properties, this has now resulted in an increase in enquiry levels, especially in the over £450,000 house price sector. Already this year we have taken two new reservations at our development at Skelmanthorpe, near Huddersfield.

“This positivity is also being reflected in the increase in the number of visits to our Experience Hub at our Shepley development, compared to this time last year, which is extremely encouraging. All our Phase 1 homes at Shepley will now be ready to move into by the end of next month, which marks the conclusion of a development of which we are extremely proud.

“It is so important to remember that all parts of the new homes market aren’t in decline, despite what some pessimists might say. Our starter homes initiative at our three sites in Shepley, Skelmanthorpe and Denby Dale has been incredibly successful with first-time buyers keen to stop paying high rents and to climb on to the property ladder for the first time. There is also strong evidence to suggest that demand for well-built attractive family homes, correctly priced, remains healthy and should gather pace during the next 12 months.

“At Yorkshire Country Properties, we have been buoyed by recognition in a range of awards in 2023, winning two major honours in the WhatHouse? Awards and being shortlisted in the Yorkshire Post Real Estate and the Yorkshire Business Insider Property awards for our developments at Shepley, Skelmanthorpe and Denby Dale.

“This recognition has meant a tremendous amount to our hard-working team and given us the confidence to progress two prestigious new West Yorkshire developments, one at Grange Moor, Kirklees, and the other in the very popular Huddersfield postcode of HD9. Yes, 2023 was tough, but these mortgage rate cuts are just the boost the housing market needs.”

Huddersfield is a new property hotspot

HUDDERSFIELD IS A PROPERTY HOTSPOT

The decision by a number of leading mortgage lenders to cut their rates has provided the embattled UK housing market with much-needed hope at the beginning of the year, according to an award-winning Yorkshire residential property developer.

Paul Brown, chief executive of Huddersfield-based Yorkshire Country Properties, said that it was vital that confidence returned to the housing market and that lower interest rates were a key factor in this.

HSBC has announced cuts on its residential mortgage interest rates, with several falling below 5% for the first time since April 2023. The largest drop was to its 10-year fixed-rate remortgage deals, one of which is down from 4.99% to 3.99%.

Reductions have also been announced by Britain’s largest mortgage lender, Halifax, including to its two-year fixed-rate remortgage which dropped from 5.64% to 4.81%. 

It marks a sharp reduction from last summer when the average rate of a two-year fixed deal hit a 15-year high of 6.66%.

Paul Brown, whose company won two major honours at the prestigious WhatHouse? Awards in December, commented: “There is certainly a degree of positivity in the market going into 2024 that was absent this time last year, driven by an increase in lender confidence. Competition has returned and now the banks are competing with each other once again.

“It is fair to say the stability in interest rates and the general more optimistic market sentiment is now resulting in an increase in enquiry levels, especially in the over £450,000 house price sector. Already this year we have taken two new reservations at our development at Skelmanthorpe, near Huddersfield.

“This positivity is also being reflected in the increase in the number of visits to our Experience Hub at our Shepley development, compared to this time last year, which is extremely encouraging. All our Phase 1 homes at Shepley will now be ready to move into by the end of next month, which marks the conclusion of a development of which we are extremely proud.

“It is so important to remember that all parts of the new homes market aren’t in decline, despite what some pessimists might say. Our starter homes initiative at our three sites in Shepley, Skelmanthorpe and Denby Dale has been incredibly successful with first-time buyers keen to stop paying high rents and to climb on to the property ladder for the first time. There is also strong evidence to suggest that demand for well-built attractive family homes, correctly priced, remains healthy and should gather pace during the next 12 months.
“At Yorkshire Country Properties, we have been buoyed by recognition in a range of awards in 2023, winning two major honours in the WhatHouse? awards and being shortlisted in the Yorkshire Post Real Estate and the Yorkshire Business Insider Property awards for our developments at Shepley, Skelmanthorpe and Denby Dale.
“This recognition has meant a tremendous amount to our hard-working team and given us the confidence to progress two prestigious new West Yorkshire developments, one at Grange Moor and the other in the very popular Huddersfield postcode of HD9. Yes, 2023 was tough, but these mortgage rate cuts are just the boost the housing market needs.”


Good News - Mortgage Rate Cuts

Mortgage Rate Cuts

**It’s been a year of positive change here at Yorkshire Country Properties. We’re so appreciative of the warmth and friendliness of our local community and the benefits of living and working in Yorkshire.**

It seems like only yesterday when we began the year with a key appointment in Paul Brown as our managing director, who brought with him significant experience in both the residential and commercial development sectors and we have continued to build up our team with **[six other key appointments](/news/flourishing-yorkshire-country-properties-strengthens-management-team)** both on site and in the office throughout the year to continually improve our customer service.

By March we had begun to start making a name for ourselves, introducing our **[stunning range of homes](/developments/)** to the house buyers of Yorkshire. And with a range of 22 house types to choose from we cater for a variety of tastes, so there’s bound to be a style that is perfect for you!

From one-bed starter homes (which won us the Gold award at the recent prestigious What House awards in London) right up to our five-bedroom family homes – all are built in natural tumbled Yorkshire stone and located in some of the Huddersfield region’s most picturesque locations.

Our buyers really appreciate the quality, thought and craftsmanship that goes into each and every one of our homes and we regularly receive glowing testimonials from them, which are delightful.

Remember, too, that all our homes are designed with access to the outdoors from a primary living area, a feature which we think is vital to provide the option to extend your living space outside and during the warmer months, create a good work-life balance.

As a business that is focused on putting our customers first, as well as building beautiful new homes, May saw us **[launch our Customer Experience Hub](/news/customer-experience-launch)** at Knowle Grange in Shepley.

We invite you to come and chat to us here at any time, so we can help you with any queries and take you through the range of fabulous upgrades we have available.

Our Customer Experience Hub is fitted out with many of the upgrades, so that you can see for yourself, just how perfect your new dream home could be. In fact, the majority of our new homes have a variety of personalisation options so that they can be designed around your unique needs.

In November, we were delighted to gain **[national recognition at the What House Awards](/news/whathouse-awards-success)** – not only did we win a Gold (did we mention that 😊) but we also picked up a Bronze award for Best Small Housebuilder.  Given our relatively recent arrival to the market, we are over the moon to be recognised by our professional peers in this way so soon.  It has been a massive team effort right across the company.

And let’s not forget our amazing aftercare team too, who, have also been turning heads during 2023. Always at hand for customers throughout the home moving process - before they move in, and there on move-in day too, helping to make a stressful day easy and enjoyable.

So as we reach the end of the year, we have 147 new homes under development across our three sites in **[Shepley](/developments/knowle-grange)**, **[Skelmanthorpe](/developments/whistle-bell-court)** and **[Denby Dale](/developments/the-willows)** which are proving extremely popular, with further developments planned in 2024. 

First to begin early in the year is our exciting new development at Grange Moor, where we will be building ten contemporary bungalows.  Look out for more information on these coming soon.

And in the meantime, we have just released 12 stunning new homes to the market across **[all three of our development locations](/developments/)**.  Featuring a selection of three, four and five-bedroom homes, which range in price from £315,000 - £650,000, there’s a beautiful new home just waiting for you! 

Once the festivities are over, why not pay us a visit at the Customer Experience Hub, enjoy a good Yorkshire brew with us and Kirsty will take you through the fabulous range of fixtures, fittings and upgrades you can select when you choose to buy your next home with Yorkshire Country Properties.

Our Customer Experience Hub will be closed from 21 December until 2nd January for the Christmas and New Year holidays, but we are usually open daily from 10am-5pm.

It’s been a year of positive change here at Yorkshire Country Properties - new MD, new developments launched in West Yorkshire and multiple awards won. Read more.

YCP 2023 round up

Browse the properties available across our three developments

We’re chuffed to bits with our success in 2023

As part of a government-backed initiative, YCP is proud to be an early house builder to offer Starter Homes to first time buyers. Find out more about Starter Homes and see if you’re eligible for a 20% discount on homes with discounted prices less than £250,000.

Get a foot on the ladder

Yorkshire Country Properties (YCP for short) design exemplary homes in the heart of the  countryside. From exterior facades made of local stone, to every interior fitting complementing its environment; no detail is spared when it comes to making every house feel like somewhere you can’t wait to go home to.

All of our properties are built to the highest quality of base specifications, but how it’s finished and fitted is up to you. From kitchen tops to bathroom taps; from the floors to the doors. YCP offers a wide range of customisation and upgrade opportunities so you can turn the house you purchase into your home for life.

Less stress. More support. With YCP, you’ll have one point of contact from enquiry stage through to completion. And with our exceptional aftercare service, you won’t be left to your own devices as soon as you’ve got the keys. We guarantee that the only time you’ll be going round the houses is when your lovely sales agent is giving you a tour of your new area.

WhatHouse? Award Success!

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