Construction has begun on a £6.9m affordable home project that will bring much-needed new bungalows and family homes to Murton.
A mix of wheelchair adaptable bungalows and three-bedroom houses is being built on a brown field site by believe housing. The County Durham-based housing association will create 28 wheelchair-adaptable bungalows and 22 three-bedroom family homes at Truro Avenue in the north of the village.
More than £1.7m of funding from Homes England has been secured for the Murton project through the Government agency’s affordable homes programme. The 50 new homes are part of believe housing’s £70m new-build programme. More than 700 new homes are being constructed as part of the programme, stretching from the Durham coast to rural upper Weardale.
Development Project Manager, Rebecca Marshall, from believe housing said: “As a housing association we are dedicated to providing quality affordable homes. Our role is very different to that of the major house builders; we’re not here for profit, we want to provide secure homes that will help the communities in areas like Murton flourish for decades to come.
“We focus on developing slightly smaller sites, like this one, and creating much needed new housing. It’s an approach that helps communities grow organically by integrating new-build homes into existing neighbourhoods.”
The 28 bungalows will include a mix of two and three bedrooms, and all will be constructed with easily adaptable features for future tenants who could have specific accessibility needs, such as wheelchair users.
The 22 three-bedroom houses will be available through m!ne, the ‘Rent to Buy’ arm of believe housing. Rent to Buy is a government backed scheme designed to ease the transition from renting to buying a home by offering a reduced rent, usually around 20% below the market rate. The aim is to give people the opportunity to save for a deposit at the same time and buy their home after five years.
Construction of the development is being carried out by local contractor Esh Living, the affordable housing division of Esh Group. Work was officially started with a short ground-breaking ceremony on site and is expected to take around 17 months. The first families are planned to move in during late 2020.
Mark Binns, Construction Director from Esh Living said: “It’s great to have been appointed to deliver this fantastic scheme which is a great investment for the local area. At Esh we believe in constructing high quality homes to meet the needs of our clients and their customers.
“Throughout the project we will be engaging with the local community and schools across the area to provide a range of Social Value initiatives including work experience placements and Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths sessions whilst delivering this project on behalf of believe housing.”
Header image shows Mark Binns from Esh Living and Rebecca Marshall from believe housing on site in Truro Avenue, Murton.
