Published Thursday 24 March 2022 at 19:25
The ribbon has been officially cut on a new housing development in Blackburn – part of a £19m housing regeneration scheme in the town.
Representatives from Blackburn with Darwen Council were invited for a tour of four sites across Griffin and Mill Hill by Great Places Housing Group and their building contractors.
In total, 138 new homes have been built with 123 of those being offered for affordable rent and 15 offered for sale through shared ownership.
Councillor Phil Riley, Executive Member for Growth and Development, said:
This is a fantastic example of housing regeneration in Blackburn with Darwen and one we’re really proud of.
It was a privilege to be able to visit the homes of the new tenants as part of the tour and they shared their stories and told us how they had truly transformed their lives.
To also hear about the demand for the new houses shows just how important projects like these are – providing new, quality, energy-efficient homes for our residents which are affordable.
It’s also an example of what great partnership working can achieve and I’d like to thank Great Places and their contractors for all their hard work on the schemes.
The £8.1m development of 56 new homes off Shakespeare Way in Griffin was part of the Council’s ‘renewal area’ plans.
Seddon Construction led on that development, which is funded by Great Places and the Homes England Strategic Partnership.
Helen Spencer, Executive Director of Growth at Great Places, said:
We are really proud to showcase our new homes across these sites.
Each of the sites has its own history, and was a challenge for local residents to live alongside so to transform them into new homes is a real benefit.
We experienced high demand with more than 400 people applying for the new homes on the Griffin development alone.
We also saw a huge demand for our shared-ownership homes – offering residents a chance to get on the property ladder. We look forward to delivering more of that tenure in Blackburn.
In Mill Hill, we have delivered our largest modular development to date – a new way of building houses – and it is fantastic to see the end result there.
The best part of the day was hearing first-hand how these new homes are having such a positive impact on the communities in Griffin and Mill Hill.
The developers on the four sites were Seddon Construction Ltd, R P Tyson Construction and Hargreaves Contracting.
The sites include:
- Shakespeare Way, Griffin – £8.1m scheme – 56 new homes
- Bowen Street, Mill Hill – £3.3m scheme – 24 new homes
- Shorrock Lane, Mill Hill – £2.8m scheme – 16 new homes
- New Wellington Street, Mill Hill – £5.1m scheme – 42 new homes
And, as well as the new homes, the delegates also heard how the development at Griffin had helped create three new jobs for local residents.
Duncan Williams. Regional Director for Seddon Construction, said:
As part of the Griffin scheme, three new apprenticeship roles were created.
That helped three young people from Blackburn into the construction industry and, as well as learning new skills and passing their NVQs, they were able to help make a difference to the town where they live.
It’s been great to see the development completed and we hope the residents there will really enjoy their new homes.