HOMELESS families now have a place to live with the opening of a new council housing scheme.
Work has finally finished on building 24 new energy-efficient family homes in Herbert Avenue, Poole.
The £3.5 million project by BCP Council, and delivered by Poole-based firm AJC Group, will serve as a stepping-stone between hostel and B&B living to independent living.
Two families who were living in a hostel have now moved into the award-winning new-builds.
Read more: AJC Group shortlisted for its Herbert Avenue scheme
Cllr Vikki Slade, leader of the council, said: “We have over 120 families with children currently living in a B&B. No one should live in a B&B for anything more than a weekend away.
“If we don’t deal with things like this, we are letting families down and the mental health of children and parents living in them is just awful.
“This is a great project: it looks amazing, the space is amazing. The ability to have your own front door... we have it, these families don’t and I just don’t think you can underestimate the power of that.”
She added she wants the perception of homeless people to change.
“It’s had its controversies from people objecting because they don’t like to have homeless people living near them,” Cllr Slade added.
“But I have spent time in the hostels where some of these families are coming from where there is no private bathroom for a family.
“There could be kids who will have to walk down the corridor hoping they don’t bump into a middle-aged man coming out of the toilet half-clothed. That’s not okay.”
David Cracklen, director of AJC Group, added: “This project very much reflects our values and missions and we are very lucky to have been appointed for it relatively early on.
“The cost of living has been at the very forefront of our minds.
“To have brought this forward in a time when we’ve had Covid, the Ukraine war, construction costs going up 20 per cent plus over the past few years – so to get this done on time, on budget is impressive.”
Around 20 families will be moving directly from living in a B&B and the rest will be from hostels.
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