Bath-based housing group Curo is due to start construction work next month on another affordable homes scheme in Bristol – including repurposing one of its own offices – as it continues to work towards easing that city’s housing shortage.
Curo has appointed family-owned construction group Jehu as the main contractor on The Willows regeneration scheme in Lawrence Weston, pictured, which will include 57 new homes across three adjoining sites.
Curo’s former Holly House office building will be converted into 13 apartments for social rent and let to people over 55. The homes will feature assistive technology, such as personal alarms or memory aids, that can be tailored to the needs of the occupiers and enable them to stay in their homes for longer.
The scheme will also include a mix of one, two and three-bedroom houses and apartments, with 25 homes for affordable rent and 19 houses for shared ownership. These will be built on land once occupied by the Long Cross Inn and the site of the former Rockwell care home.
Curo will also refurbish an existing block of 12 apartments, with external insulation, new windows and new electricity supplies. The improvements will help reduce heating bills and increase comfort for residents.
Curo’s investment of almost £5.7m will be topped up by a Homes England grant of just over £2.8m.
The Willows is near Curo’s Century Park development in Lawrence Weston, where it is building 128 new homes, including 90 for sale and 38 homes for social rent and shared ownership.
Its other schemes in Bristol include 14 homes on a disused garage site in Victoria Avenue, Redfield, 32 affordable homes in the city’s Old Market district, and a 100% affordable housing development at Broadbury Road, Filwood, with 47 homes.
Curo chief executive Victor da Cunha said: “We’re looking forward to working with Jehu at The Willows.
“This exciting regeneration scheme won’t just provide new affordable housing for local people, it will also benefit the wider community by redeveloping vacant and underused land and improving the appearance and security of the area.”
Jehu South West operations director Nigel Crawford added: “We are excited by our new partnership with Curo and are looking forward to delivering much needed affordable homes for the local community at The Willows.
“The Willows is an exciting development for the area, and we plan to develop a great relationship with the residents, the Oasis Bank Leaze Academy school and local businesses and leave a legacy when we have finished the project.”
The scheme is expected to be completed by the end of next year.
Curo manages more than 13,000 homes across the region and builds hundreds of new ones a year. Its flagship 700-home Mulberry Park development on former MoD land on Bath’s outskirts includes community facilities and open spaces as well as a range of homes for sale and social rent.
