Pensioner says new home is just heaven

Published by neilshaefer for Home Group in Housing and also in Local Government

A pensioner has described how living in a new home on a Sheffield estate has been like moving from ‘hell to heaven”.

Hilda Dixon recently moved from her rundown home on the Scowerdons estate in Sheffield to a new two-bedroom on the neighbouring Weakland estate.

The two areas, along with the Newstead estate, are undergoing a major £135 million regeneration scheme managed by affordable housing provider Home, in partnership with Sheffield City Council.

Mrs Dixon, 80, was among the residents invited to join representatives from Home, Sheffield City Council, contractors Wm Davisand other partners to celebrate completion of the first 45 houses being completed at Weakland.

After giving a tour of her home to the Lord Mayor of Sheffied, Councillor Graham Oxley, Mrs Dixon, a widower, spoke about how excited she was about her new home.

“I used to live on the Scowerdons estate but the area around me had become so rundown and I was one of only a few people left as the others had moved out as part of the regeneration scheme,” she explained.

“There really is no comparison between the home I had then and the one I have now, other than to me it has been like moving from hell to heaven.”

Speaking at the ‘Tea in The Fields’ event, Ansar Ali, Managing Director of Home’s Central (Yorkshire and the Midlands) region, said: “We have come a long way to get to this stage and whilst there is still some way to go we are looking forward to working with the council and local residents to provide a regeneration scheme that will benefit generations of people.”

Cllr Bob McCann, Sheffield City Council's Cabinet Member for Housing and Sustainable, Safer Communities, said: “By creating a development where tenants and owner occupiers live together we hope to create a real community spirit where people regard their properties as homes and not just houses.”

In total over the life of the regeneration scheme Home is building over 1,000 new homes on the three estates, now being marketed as The Fields.

In the first phase, 27 homes are being rented, seven are being sold for outright sale, six for shared ownership and five for shared equity through the Government’s HomeBuy Direct scheme.

For more information about the homes and purchase options available please telephone William H Brown estate agents on 0114 247 1421.