NEARLY all of the existing homes on one of York’s biggest housing developments have been sold, a spokesperson has said.

All but a handful of the existing properties at the site between Tang Hall and Osbaldwick have been sold, with the fourth and final phase of 66 properties due to go on sale in the new year.

Having started development in 2010, a total of 480 homes - a mixture of social housing, shared ownership and privately owned properties - will have been built at the Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust (JRHT) and David Wilson Homes housing scheme.

The first phase at Osbaldwick village completely sold a number of years ago, and, at the time of writing, three houses remained for sale on the Seebohm Quarter and one in the Lotherington Quarter.

Sarah Proctor, a sales manager at David Wilson Homes, said: “The Seebohm Quarter at our award winning Derwenthorpe development has proved to be exceptionally popular. With the homes offering sustainable green living at a great price and with easy access to the city of York, it is not hard to understand why.”

The final phase of 66 houses will go on sale in the new year, a spokesperson for David Wilson Homes said.

The phase will be in keeping with the style of the existing developments but will include a “small selection of semi-detached two or three bedroom dormer bungalows”, the spokesperson said.

The ambition behind Derwenthorpe was to emulate the vision with which the Joseph Rowntree Foundation built York’s garden village of New Earswick a century ago.

The site has energy efficient homes with low carbon produced heat from an onsite energy centre, and green open spaces.

The Derwenthorpe development hasn’t been free of controversy, with campaigners actively opposing initial plans. In recent years there have been teething problems with the biomass boiler.

However, it has also attracted a great amount of praise, winning national housing awards - including an accolade at The Sunday Times British Homes Awards and numerous prizes from the York Design Awards - and helping to address York's housing crisis.