THE second phase of York's Derwenthorpe housing development is underway as construction starts on the next 350 homes.

The housing scheme, which is being built by David Wilson Homes in partnership with the Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust, will see a total of 540 homes built near Osbaldwick.

The launch of the second phase saw more than 70 people visiting on the opening weekend of the Seehohm Quarter and Lotherigton Quarter.

The developments, situated on Fifth Avenue and Temple Avenue respectively, will be made up of 230 two, three, four and five bedroom homes on Seebohm and 121 homes on the Lotherington Quarter.

Clare Reaney, sales manager for David Wilson Homes Yorkshire East, said: "I am very pleased with the feedback we received from those who visited at the launch weekend.

"There is a real need for high-quality, affordable and sustainable housing here in York and I am delighted that we can offer this to the community. "We have already sold 35 homes off plan across both of the new sites before we launched, which shows just how popular the developments are proving to be."

The Derwenthorpe development is to be built in four phases, with the first phase recently honoured with a Civic Trust Award, becoming the first large-scale development in northern England to achieve level four and five of the Code for Sustainable Homes

The pioneering development has also just received a Built for Life commendation, which celebrates excellence under the Building for Life (BfL) 12 industry standard tool for well-designed new homes.

The new-build homes feature a number of eco-friendly attributes, including heating sourced from a bio mass-fired district-heating network, which promotes sustainable and affordable living, while fibre optics will also feature in each of the properties, providing ultra-fast broadband to the residents.