Residents’ Delight at £350,000 Refit » Housing » 24dash.com

Residents of a popular sheltered housing complex in South Leeds are delighted with a £350,000 refurbishment by housing organisation Aire Valley Homes.

The modernisation of the 31-unit Middleton Park Court was a challenge for builders, BAAS Construction, as residents remained in their own homes throughout. On completion, the company and Aire Valley Homes laid on a special lunch to thank them for their patience during the disruption.

The residents were clearly very pleased with the end result, reports Aire Valley Homes Chief Executive, Merran McRae. Although it must have been very difficult for them at times over the months of work, they all wanted to publicly thank the workmen for their efforts.

The extensive refurbishment included full redecoration and replacement of the floor coverings in all communal areas and the construction of a larger, open plan kitchen. The walls, originally bare brick, were plastered and residents now enjoy a small library.

The first floor laundry room has been redesigned and corridors now feature self-closing fire doors, with fire walls in the loft space. A new smoke and fire alarm system has been installed, as has a fully-adapted disabled toilet on the ground floor.

Were very happy with it, says tenant, John Walker, 67, who moved into the complex last year with wife Linda, 65. The new kitchens are really lovely and so are the bathrooms and dining rooms. The walls and corridors are now pink but we like it! Its very important for everyone to have a nice living environment and we appreciate the efforts of Aire Valley in providing this.

Aire Valley Homes Head of Asset Management, Richard Corbishley, says that canvassing residents views had been of paramount importance throughout the work. We held regular meetings with tenants to discuss our plans and what we wanted to achieve - and we made sure that their final design reflected their comments.

Each flat has its own self contained bathroom but the complex now benefits from a large fully-refurbished wet room on the ground floor and a fully-adapted first floor bathroom containing a Leeds Bath for assisted bathing.

Handrails have been installed on both sides of the corridor and this, coupled with mood lighting, soft pink decorations and a new carpet, has created a cosier, more living areas.

Aire Valley Homes is an ALMO (Arms Length Management), an independent organisation charged with the management of over 15,000 homes on behalf of Leeds City Council. Its responsibilities include repairs and maintenance, rent collection, letting and tenancy administration. It is one of 68 such organisations across the country.