AN 'AMBITIOUS' programme of three affordable rented home developments have started building in Bournemouth.
The new developments include a five-floor building housing 11 flats in the town centre and a four-storey building with 27 flats on the site of a former care home.
The Council Newbuild Housing and Acquisition Strategy (CNHAS) is progressing across Bournemouth with new ‘Passivhaus’ constructions that will provide additional council housing for local people seeking affordable rent and social rent homes.
The first of these is in St Stephen’s Road. A five-floor building, containing seven one-bedroom flats and four two-bedroom flats – incorporating metal artwork screening on the ground floor and car parking at ground level.
The building will be constructed to the ‘Passivhaus’ standard, which requires around 90 per cent less energy than standard UK buildings.
Work on St Stephen’s Road has begun already via Amiri Construction Ltd and it is anticipated that the flats will welcome its first residents early in 2023.
The second development will transform the site of Templeman House, a former care home in East Howe built in the 1960s, which is no longer fit for purpose and undergoing demolition. BCP Council says the new four-storey building set to replace it “boasts an exciting design that will make a distinct statement in its surroundings with wood-effect cladding and buff brickwork”.
It will consist of 16 one-bedroom flats and 11 two-bedroom flats, with accompanying car parking and electric vehicle recharging points.
The project will be ready for social renters on the housing register from spring 2023.
A third development of two semi-detached family homes is also near to being finished at Mountbatten Gardens. The eco-friendly building will feature “exceptional insulation, triple-glazed windows and heat recovery” which is stated to benefit residents by reducing fuel bills.
Deputy leader of BCP Council Philip Broadhead said: “We have a bold ambition built-in to our council new build housing programme - to deliver on the target of 1,000 new homes over the next five years.
“These Passivhaus projects show the way we’re going to get there. I look forward to following their construction over the next year and revealing what else we have planned for more world-class regeneration and housing in 2022.”
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