Property bonanza for buyers as historic Harewood goes green

Rocketing fuel bills are a burden for most households but when your home is a gargantuan Georgian mansion they are astronomical.

It’s one reason why David Lascelles, Earl of Harewood, has embarked on an ambitious scheme to create his own green energy.

He believes that the £150,000-a-year fuel bills for Harewood House, its stable block and cottage will be cut by a third when it switches from oil-fired and electric heat to a biomass boiler.

The new boiler, powered by wood chips, will also warm the estate’s headquarters, the offices it lets to local businesses and some of its cottages.

“This is an ethical and economically sound investment. It will drastically reduce the carbon footprint of the estate and help us become sustainable for the next century,” says Lord Harewood, who is a keen conservationist.

“We will be self-sufficient and not dependent on oil supplies that come from the most volatile areas of the planet. Biomass makes perfect sense for us because we can source timber from our own woodlands, which is a renewable source.”

To fund the £1m-plus project, the estate is selling 30 of its 85 cottages. The first 11 will be on the market at the end of the month with another batch released at the end of April and the last lot in autumn.

Prices start from £150,000 and the properties have between two and four bedrooms. Some are in need of modernisation.

The sale is a rare and exciting opportunity for house hunters who aspire to live in this desirable oasis between Leeds and Harrogate. It is the first time ever on the market for the 18th century homes that were designed by Yorkshire’s most famous architect, John Carr.

He built Harewood House for Edwin Lascelles and created the adjoining village for estate workers.

“The cottages are very well built. The idea was to provide high quality residences for everyone from the vicar to forestry workers,” says Lord Harewood.

“We are selling because Harewood has to evolve to survive. In the 18th century, large numbers of cottages were required for estate workers. Today, this is simply no longer the case.”

Tony Wright, head of residential at Carter Jonas, Harrogate, is handling the sale and adds: “This represents a unique opportunity and we expect a lot of interest. The quality and character of the buildings is remarkable and the location is fantastic.”

While some may say it’s not the best time to sell property, in this case it makes financial sense, according to Lord Harewood.

Waiting for house prices to rise when you could be saving thousands on your energy bills would be pointless, he says, stressing that this is not a “fire sale”, just diversification from letting into a more lucrative area.

He estimates that the new heating system will pay for itself in six or seven years and will also generate an income.

The green heat will be sold to the tenanted offices and to Harewood House, which operates independently of the 4,000-acre estate and is administered by a separate charitable trust.

Christopher Ussher, the estate’s resident agent, says: “We are also hoping to provide drying facilities on an industrial scale using wasted heat thrown off by the boiler. We think farmers might be interested in drying grain there.”

The biomass plant will be housed in existing agricultural buildings and more than a mile of pipes will be laid across the estate’s parkland to stretch out to the house and other buildings.

The offices, nine cottages and a farmhouse should be converted to biomass heat by spring 2014. The grade one listed house will take longer.

“It’s an old house with lots of different uses and we expect there will be complications but that will be phase two of the project and I expect it will be 2015 before we complete it,” says Lord Harewood.

Three years’ supply of timber has already been stockpiled in preparation for the big switch-on. It comes from thinning and an ongoing programme to replace softwood trees with hardwood species in the 800 acres of woodland.

The biomass project was devised by Lord Harewood and Christopher Ussher, who together have helped modernise and develop new income streams for the estate.

Although he officially inherited the title when his father passed away in 2011, former TV producer David Lascelles has been at the estate’s helm since 1992. His work includes the renovation of redundant farm buildings to create the Harewood yard office complex, encouraging film and location shoots and sealing a deal with YTV soap Emmerdale, which is now based on the estate.

He also launched a renovation programme for historic buildings, including Home Farm and Harewood Castle, along with the development of habitat for wildlife, including the red kite.

Both he and Mr Ussher are following in their fathers’ footsteps. Neville Ussher was personal agent to the late Hon George Lascelles, Earl of Harewood. They too were forward thinking in the face of crippling death duties and opened Harewood to the public.

Mr Ussher says: “The biomass boiler is a switch of investment from property and should generate more funds for maintenance and restoration.”

Lord Harewood adds: “By realising the value of some of our cottages and reinvesting in green energy, we will be able to safeguard the future of Harewood’s historic landscape and the major buildings it contains.”

For details of the properties for sale, contact Carter Jonas, tel: 01423 523423, www.carterjonas.co.uk

History of Harewood

Edwin Lascelles commissioned the building of Harewood House in the mid-18th century with money his father Henry made in the sugar trade.

Built by John Carr of York, furnished by master cabinet-maker Thomas Chippendale with interiors by Robert Adam and all in the setting of Capability’ Brown’s landscape, the property is one of the great Treasure Houses of England. It is open to the public and has an impressive collection of art.

The estate, which is run separately, manages the 4,000 acres of countryside surrounding the house. It has a nationally recognised conservation programme.

Harewood opens on February 16, www.harewood.org