Lyng Community Association (LCA) is celebrating the completion of 200 homes for affordable rent on the Lyng estate in West Bromwich. The ambitious redevelopment scheme has spanned more than five years, following the demolition of run down flats and maisonettes on the old Lyng site. After years of hard work, the final 10 properties have been handed over to LCA and tenants moved in within three days.
Mum-of-two, Zahra, moved from Lyttleton Street into one of the Lyng’s newest homes. She says: “The Lyng estate is a great place to bring up a family and our new home meets our needs perfectly. I can walk to the shops or to our local doctor and I take my little one to the park when it’s sunny. I love the Lyng and I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.”
Work to demolish nearly 1,000 1960s properties on the old Lyng estate, which had become a hotspot for unemployment and anti-social behaviour, began back in 1999. In 2004, Phase 1 of the work to build new modern homes got underway, with Phase 2 starting in 2006. By the end of 2012, tenants had moved into the 190 newly built affordable homes.
Local people led the drive for change and the direction the estate’s redevelopment would take, setting up the resident-led LCA as a registered social landlord to see the project through. In 2013, the Lyng redevelopment scooped a Made20 award, recognising it as one of the 20 best Midlands building projects of the last five years.
The last 10 properties are a mixture of two and three bedroom houses in Leopard Lane and bring the number of affordable homes on the site to a total of 200. They have been used to re-house existing tenants looking for bigger homes for their growing families, and to house families off Sandwell Council’s housing waiting list.
Although all the homes for affordable rent on the Lyng estate have now been completed, building work will be continuing on the estate for some time yet. Barratt Homes is currently in the fourth and final phase of its development of 250 two-, three- and four-bedroom homes for private sale on the site, and the final 75 properties are expected to be completed next Summer.
Tony Nash, general manager of LCA, commented: “This is a milestone moment for Lyng Community Association. We’ve waited around two years for the final 10 properties to be built and finished, and we are all absolutely delighted to see the whole project come to completion.
“The Lyng’s regeneration is an inspirational example of the resident-led rejuvenation of a community and it is wonderful to see the real sense of community spirit which has developed among the families who live now here.”
