£1.4m Carlisle housing scheme completed

Work has been completed on Two Castle Housing Association’s £1.4m homes scheme in Harraby, Carlisle.

Located at the former St Elizabeth’s Church Hall site on Mayfield Avenue, the development has delivered 11 high quality homes for local people to rent.

Built in partnership with developers Cubby Construction and part-funded by the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) with an investment of £275,000, the energy efficient scheme includes nine three-bedroom and two four-bedroom properties.

Rob Brittain, property services director at Two Castles Housing Association, said: “We’re really pleased to be welcoming residents into their new homes at what is a fantastic affordable housing scheme in Harraby. Building these properties has helped to bring a former under-used site back into community life and will give local individuals and their families the chance to live in a high quality new home at an affordable rent.

“There continues to be a real need for quality housing to rent across Carlisle and its surrounding area. At Two Castles we’re committed to working with our partners to deliver relevant affordable homes provision that helps to meet the needs of local communities.”

With support from Carlisle City Council, the development has been constructed to Code for Sustainable Level Three Homes Standards. Each individual home incorporates a range of energy-efficient features including photovoltaic solar panels helping to make each home even more affordable and reduce overall energy bills for tenants.

Paul Atkinson, project manager at Cubby Construction, said: “Cubby Construction is once again delighted to have partnered with Two Castles Housing Association on this exciting development of affordable homes. We are delighted to have been chosen to deliver high quality properties on time and on budget.

“Our policy of sourcing all our labour, materials and sub-contractors from the local area to promote our zero carbon aims has once again contributed to the success of the development at Mayfield Avenue.”

Cllr Jessica Riddle, Portfolio holder for Culture, Health, Leisure & Young People, said: “We’re delighted that work is completed on this fantastic new housing development in Harraby. The scheme provides much-needed affordable housing for local residents, and the provision of homes suited to young families is great news for the community of Harraby.”

Deborah McLaughlin, executive director for the HCA said: “Ensuring that good quality affordable housing is available for people where they want to live is an important priority for us, so I am pleased that we were able to support redevelopment at Mayfield Avenue. Successes such as this demonstrate the benefits of close partnership working to ensure affordable housing is constructed where it is needed most and will make the biggest difference to the local community.”