Every Street – bringing dilapidated Victorian terraces into the 21st century

Every Street in Whitefield, on the outskirts of Nelson in Lancashire, has been completely transformed as part of a major regeneration project undertaken by Pendle Borough Council. Whitefield is one of Pendle’s Housing Market Renewal (HMR) areas. The site is also a conservation area and the homes have been restored to meet the heritage requirements of the site and as well as the town’s housing needs. Most importantly, long term sustainability and excellent energy efficiency have also been built into the properties.

Hot water is provided by Potterton Solar in-roof flat plate collector panels installed on the south-facing roofs in conjunction with Santon Premier Plus twin coil solar hot water storage cylinders. Central heating and additional hot water is provided by Potterton Promax HE Plus heat only boilers.

Simon Osborne, Specification Channel Manager for Potterton, said: “We are very proud to be associated with this project. When you see the dilapidated condition of some of these homes prior to work starting, and look at them today, you’d never believe they are the same properties. Sustainability and energy efficiency is key to the project’s success and longevity, and Potterton Solar can really help to reduce hot water costs and lower the properties’ carbon footprints.”

The area was once at the heart of the cotton industry, but the mills are now closed, unemployment in the area is high, and many of the houses have fallen into disrepair. The 12 properties in two terraces in Every Street were in a very poor state; some had wood rot, which needed immediate treatment, most properties had no central heating and the homes were smaller than the national average, while the size of households in the area was larger than the national average.

To address this, three two-into-one conversations were carried out, making good sized, four-bedroom homes, one with ensuite bathroom. There are now eight modern, spacious and eco-friendly homes, which still have their distinctive external Victorian appearance. Inside, they have many 21st century features including extra insulation, light tubes, solar heating, state of the art boilers, walk in wet rooms in the larger properties, new kitchen extensions and sliding patio doors which open onto decked yards.

Iftekhar Bokhari is Pendle Borough Councils Senior Regeneration Officer for the Whitefield project. He says: “Within the past nine months I’ve seen this area completely transformed. We have worked closely with the Whitefield Regeneration Partnership and the Whitefield Community Forum, and we have listened to local residents and developed and incorporated their ideas. We hope to further develop this theme into other terraced blocks and continue to incorporate energy conservation technologies whilst maintaining the areas heritage.”

Pendle Council’s Housing Market Renewal work on Every Street has cost £860,000. It was funded through Elevate, the HMR and regeneration agency for Pennine Lancashire. Council partners Liberata were the project managers. Funding also came from the Homes and Communities Agency and the Heritage Lottery Fund. Work went out to tender and a local building firm, Thorntons, was employed, which in turn sub-contracted work to local companies.

For more information on Potterton Solar please visit www.potterton.co.uk/solar or telephone 0844 871 1560.

To find out more about Pendle Borough Council’s Whitefield project please visit http://www.pendle.gov.uk/info/100007/housing/220/nelson_housing_market_renewal/7