Start of Croft Street housing development celebrated

Councillor Alan Taylor, Philomena Renshaw (RBH Board member), Councillor Doreen Brophy-Lee, Lee Sugden (Chairman of Trustees of Brighter Horizons)

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Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH) tenants have marked the start of building work on site of the first new affordable council homes in Rochdale for more than 20 years.

The official groundbreaking was celebrated at a ceremony earlier today (Friday 9 October).

The new homes on Croft Street will provide 18 bungalows and four family houses. The 22 new properties will provide homes for some of the former tenants as well as tenants from a nearby regeneration area and others in housing need. Previous residents returning to the new development have been involved in helping to design and shape the scheme and attended the official groundbreaking.

The homes will be developed and owned by Brighter Horizons, a charitable subsidiary of RBH. RBH will manage and maintain the properties.

Lee Sugden, chairman of Brighter Horizons Trustees, said: "This ceremony marks a landmark in the hard work that has gone in between the council RBH and Brighter Horizons. I see this event as the end of a journey in terms of gearing up to deliver new affordable homes - and the start of the delivery of this and future schemes.

"This is an important landmark for Brighter Horizons and I am confident that this will now be the first ground breaking ceremony of many in the borough of Rochdale."

The leader of Rochdale Council, Councillor Alan Taylor said: “I am delighted that building work is underway for these new homes. The council has worked closely with RBH and Brighter Horizons to gear up to deliver this £2.1 million scheme which has been made possible by grant funding from the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) together with our close partnership working.

“Building affordable homes and creating and supporting jobs are key priorities for the council, this and future RBH schemes will deliver much needed homes and support local employment.”
 
The HCA approved a £1.2 million grant earlier this year. Deborah McLaughlin, regional director for the HCA NW said: “I'm pleased we have been able to work so closely with Brighter Horizons and support such an important scheme for Rochdale residents. It is exactly through this kind of investment and partnership working that will deliver such vitally needed new homes for local communities."

The properties will be built to Lifetime Homes’ standard and be constructed to meet the requirements of at least Level 3 of the Code for Sustainable Homes.

It is anticipated that the new properties will be ready for occupation in August next year and RBH is now working closely with Rochdale Council’s Strategic Housing Services to identify further sites for acquisition and development.