3 JULY 2007  -  THE latest innovative housing development from Harrogate Borough Council, in partnership with Yorkshire Housing and the Housing Corporation, is to be named after one of its most famous sons - the Victorian artist William Powell Frith.

 

The council's housing and planning policy has delivered 13 affordable apartments on a private development of 20 (built by Mark Oliver Homes) to be known as Frith Court on Knaresborough Road, Harrogate.  And in a unique experiment, all 13 of these two-bedroom apartments are aimed at tenants wishing to downsize from larger family homes.  The remaining seven are for private sale.

 

Councillor Jean Butterfield, Cabinet Member for Housing, explained why the scheme was developed.  "People choose to downsize for many reasons but it is usually because children have grown up and left home, leaving parents heating homes or cleaning rooms that are no longer used.  But because of our acute housing shortage it isn't easy for families living in council homes to find smaller alternative accommodation in an area they want to live in. 

 

"As we are desperate for family accommodation for those on our waiting list or other tenants who have outgrown their accommodation, we decided to pilot this initiative.  We are delighted with the result.  As well as releasing family properties, we were also very pleased to have an elderly tenant wishing to downsize even more and that has given us a bungalow to offer to other elderly tenants."

 

This development has been achieved by Harrogate Borough Council's planning policies, which demand that all new housing developments provide a percentage of affordable housing.  The affordable housing element for this development is being delivered by one of the council's partner housing associations, Yorkshire Housing, with part funding from the Housing Corporation and is just part of a package of measures that the council is looking to introduce to help its tenants move to smaller, more manageable homes."

 

John Carleton, the Housing Corporation's Field Director for the North, said:  "This partnership has done an excellent job in delivering this project.  It will enable thirteen households of local people to live in high quality, affordable housing in the neighbourhood of their choice.  We have been very happy to work Yorkshire Housing and the council and I am sure the residents will be very happy in their new homes."

 

The apartments have been built to a very high specification and include fully fitted kitchens with all appliances and, as an added incentive, Yorkshire Housing fitted carpets throughout and installed washing machines, ovens and fridge freezers.

 

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FURTHER INFORMATION:  Councillor Jean Butterfield is available for comment on 01423 770381.  Further technical information is available from Alan Jenks, Head of Housing on 01423 556849.

 

 

Lynne Mee, Communications and Media Manager, Harrogate Borough Council on 01423 556022 email lynne.mee@harrogate.gov.uk

 

Emma Lupton, GREEN Communications

Tel:      0845 4503210             email: emma@greencomms.com

Liz Hirst, GREEN Communications

Tel:      0845 4503210             email: liz@greencomms.com

Eloise Garret, GREEN Communications

Tel:      0845 4503210             email: eloise@greencomms.com

 

 

Yorkshire Housing Group is the largest social housing provider dedicated to Yorkshire.

 

Its members include: Yorkshire Metropolitan Housing,  Ryedale Housing Association, Craven Housing Association, Brunel Housing, Yorkshire Housing Foundation, Space Property and Safe Haven Yorkshire which have come together to improve and extend services throughout the county.

 

The Yorkshire Housing Group provides 14,500 homes for over 35,000 people across the region.

 

For more information visit:

 

 

The Housing Corporation is the Government agency responsible for investing in new affordable homes and regulating over 1,500 housing associations in England. Its biggest ever investment programme of £3.9 billion, for 2006-08, will fund 84,000 homes. 49,000 of these will be for affordable rent and 35,000 will be for affordable sale through the Government's new HomeBuy initiative, helping people to get a foot on the property ladder.