A ‘ground breaking’ ceremony took place on Monday the 7th April to mark the start of an exciting new phase in the regeneration of the city’s Chain Street area.
Thirty-two family-sized houses will be built on the site of outdated blocks of flats pulled down in 2012.
They will include ten three-bedroom homes for affordable rent through Incommunities, 12 homes for private rental and ten for outright sale through Barnfield Construction.
The homes will be built by Barnfield Construction on behalf of Incommunities with the support of Bradford Council who are providing £707,000 in funding and the Homes and Communities Agency who have released a £234,000 grant.
The main works on site will start next month with the completion of Incommunities’ new rented homes due by March 2015. The 12 homes for private rent will be owned by QSH who provide investment for rented housing in the UK.
The mixed tenure development will mark the next stage in the transformation of the Goitside Conservation Area.
Last year Incommunities converted two blocks of hard-to-let bedsits and flats off Chain Street and Roundhill Place into 16 family-sized homes for rent.
The scheme made the Inside Housing Top 50 affordable homes developments in the UK.
Geraldine Howley, Incommunities Group Chief Executive said: “We are delighted to be working with the Homes and Communities Agency, Bradford Council and our development partners – Barnfield Construction and QSH – to deliver this new phase on this cleared site.
“It marks an important milestone in the regeneration of this historic quarter of the city and demonstrates our commitment to build more affordable homes for local people.
“The development will complement our recent high quality home conversions in the area which have been recognised among the Top 50 best in the UK.”
Coun Val Slater, Executive Member for Housing, Transport and Planning, said “It’s the exciting next step in bringing the Goitside area back from the brink to be a desirable part of the city, especially with the proposed green way into the city centre.
“It is an important piece of the jigsaw in the regeneration of the whole of the Bradford city centre.”
David Orr, National Housing Federation Chief Executive, said: “New affordable homes are what the country so desperately needs to tackle the housing shortage, so it’s been a real pleasure to see the site of this fantastic new development first-hand. It’s wonderful to know that this time next year, 32 Bradford families will be able to move into their new homes on this site.
“Housing associations like Incommunities are contributing a large proportion of all new homes being built across the country, and I just hope to see more and more to ensure we deliver more of the right homes in the right place at the right price.”
Richard Panter, Area Manager at the Homes and Communities Agency said: “This new phase of the Chain Street redevelopment builds on the success of the high quality conversions that Incommunities completed last year.
“This shows what can be achieved through partners working together to create a mixed tenure development that meets the different needs of a diverse community.”
Daniel Gaunt, Project Lead, Barnfield Construction, said: “We are delighted to be working in partnership with Incommunities to bring our expertise to the delivery of this key city housing site.
“At Barnfield Construction we are committed to providing high quality services and we are looking forward to playing our part in the next phase in the regeneration of Chain Street.”
Nicola Clayton, QSH Business Development Director (North), said: “QSH are delighted that they are able to use their expertise in using private finance to deliver high quality homes for the people of Bradford. We hope to work with our partners again to provide further homes.”
The photograph shows from left to right:
Richard Panter – Area Manager, Homes and Communities Agency
Geraldine Howley –, Incommunities Group, Chief Executive
David Procter – Incommunities Group, Board Chair
David Orr – Chief Executive, National Housing Federation
Nicola Clayton – Business Development Director, QSH
Dan Gaunt – Project Manager, Barnfield Construction Limited
