Woman, 91, thrilled with brand new home

Peggy and her son Phillip enjoy their new home

A 91-year-old woman and her son have been allocated a house on Romney Avenue – the first new build affordable homes in Kikrholt.

Peggy and Philip are one of six households to be allocated a new home, which have been developed by Brighter Horizons, the charitable development subsidiary company of Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH).

“RBH has done me proud,” said Peggy. “It’s such a lovely warm house and of course it will be a lot easier for me to manage.

“My family love it too and my son Mike and his wife Ann have come all the way from Australia to see it and to help us move. All my family have worked really hard to get me settled.”

The scheme has been financed through a £420,000 grant from the Homes and Communities (HCA) agency and prudential borrowing from Rochdale Council.

Chief Executive of RBH, Gareth Swarbrick, said the scheme will provide much needed homes in the area.

“These new properties have been in great demand,” he said, “and residents like Peggy have been thrilled with their new modern homes which have been specifically designed to meet their needs.”

At a recent event, guests invited from the Council, the HCA and Board Members were able to look around the development and have a tour of one of the bungalows to see the quality build and high specification for themselves.

Peggy has lived in Kirkholt for over fifty years and raised her family of four children in the area. She had previously been living in a two-bed semi-detached.

However, she had found it increasingly difficult to manage the external steps and stairs inside the house and was overjoyed when she found out she had been allocated a new home. An additional bonus for Peggy is that a former neighbour and friend is moving in next door.

“I have lived in this area for so long I have lots of lovely friends here and having my dear friend Vera living next door is a bonus I did not expect,” Peggy added.

Philomena Renshaw, Vice Chair of the RBH Board of Directors, was invited into Peggy’s home. “I have known Peggy for many years and it is touching to see her so happy in her new home,” she said, “She really struggled in her former property and the bungalow is going to make life a lot easier for her.”

As well as offering purpose built, modern accommodation, the bungalows also include a garden and car parking space. They have been designed and constructed to meet Code 4 of the Code for Sustainable Homes, which makes them highly efficient to run. They also meet the HCA Design and Quality Standards, Lifetime Homes Standard and have Secure, by Design Accreditation.

Council Leader Colin Lambert, one of the guests at the opening event, said: “This is a fantastic scheme and I am sure residents here will be happy for many years to come.”

Much of the Kirkholt estate was built in the late 1940s and the long-term vision for the area is to offer a mix of modern housing for sale and rent, and much improved facilities. Guests were also invited to see the progression of another larger Brighter Horizons development close by on Curzon Road.

This scheme will see 25 three-bedroom houses, two four-bedroom houses and three two-bedroom bungalows completed next summer and, together with Romney Avenue, is part of a plan to create confidence in the private property market and encourage further investment by the private sector.

Deborah McLaughlin, Executive Director North West for the HCA said: “It’s really encouraging to see the regeneration of Kirkholt continuing to gather pace and I’m pleased our support has allowed Brighter Horizons to complete such good quality new homes.

“It’s thanks to the hard work and dedication of RBH and their partners that schemes like this are making sure that the long-term vision for the area is becoming a reality.”

The Romney Avenue project team consists of Great Places Housing Group as Development Agent, Kevin Shea Associates as Employers Agent, Pozzoni Architects and Tyson Construction is the contractor.