John Hellens (Contracts) Ltd was founded in 1973 in the North East of England. Focusing at that time on the regeneration of brownfield sites, the company became leading experts in this field throughout the North of England. Over the years the company has adapted to changing market conditions and has moved into sports and recreation facility construction, land and property development and investment as well as manufacturing of hard landscaping products for the building industry.
In 2003 the Hellens Group structure was created for the various trading activities undertaken by the business with primary land and property assets being held within Hellens Investments. This marked a fundamental change in strategic direction for the business from an experienced regional contractor into a land led property development business with an in house project delivery arm. Hellens Group secured planning consent for the creation of a new community of housing and commercial space at Teal Farm, Washington in 2007 with work commencing on one of the largest private sector funded brownfield developments in the region.
In 2013, the Directors of Hellens Group established a social enterprise business Hellens Residential with the primary aim of providing safe, secure and affordable homes across the region. Hellens Residential is a Registered Provider of Social Housing and in 2020 won the Ward Hadaway Fastest 50 award as the fastest growing business in the North East .
In June 2019, Hellens Group and Hellens Residential were awarded Garden Communities status by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government for Burtree Garden Village, Darlington. In early 2020 Homes England, the government’s housing accelerator, entered into a Joint Venture agreement with Hellens and took control of just under 200 acres.
