Member Article

Affordable bungalows welcome MP

The first wheelchair adaptable bungalows to be built in the Bishop Auckland area as part of a £54m construction programme have been visited by a County Durham MP. Helen Goodman, MP for Bishop Auckland, met some of the first tenants to move into the County Durham Housing Group development at Davis Avenue near the heart of St Helen Auckland. Four two-bedroom bungalows for affordable rent have been completed this summer on the formerly vacant plot. They were built specifically to meet demand for wheelchair adaptable bungalows in the area. Ms Goodman was able to take a tour of one of the bungalows with new tenant Mrs Brown, who has moved from a larger house to better meet the needs of her family. The Davis Avenue properties are the latest part of County Durham Housing Group’s 545 home new-build programme to be completed. The four-year programme, which began in 2017, will cover more than 20 sites in communities stretching from rural Weardale to the Durham coast. Already more than 60 families have moved into their new homes. Ms Goodman said: “County Durham Housing Group have done a wonderful job with the bungalows in St Helen Auckland. This is a great example of housing development fulfilling the local need for affordable, accessible housing that looks great and feels like home. The fact that these bungalows were built by a local construction company, T Manners & Sons, is an added bonus, helping to create and maintain jobs in the area.” Construction work on the new homes in Davis Avenue was carried out by long-established Weardale based firm T Manners & Sons, supporting the local economy. The full County Durham Housing Group new-build programme is expected to create in the region of 160 new jobs and apprenticeships. County Durham Housing Group Chief Executive, Bill Fullen, said: “These bungalows are just the first of dozens we’ll be creating in the Bishop Auckland area. Helen’s visit was a great chance for her to see these new bungalows up close, but also to meet some of the people who are directly benefiting from having homes that really suit their needs. “We see lots of figures about how many new homes this country needs, but we must never lose sight of the need to build the right homes in the right places.” Alongside the new bungalows in St Helen Auckland, tenants have already moved into completed homes in Newton Aycliffe, Bishop Auckland, Rookhope, Pity Me, Chilton Moor, Ushaw Moor and Ouston. More homes will reach completion in Crook this month and work is due to start this autumn on sites in Bowburn, Bishop Auckland, Peterlee and Seaham.

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