New Year - new home

Published by Roisin Rowley-Smith for Riverside in Housing and also in Communities

Riverside tenant, Sally O’Neil, is starting 2012 with a move to a brand new home, in the heart of the community where she has lived for the last 45 years.

The 77-year-old Langley tenant is delighted to move to her new two-bedroom bungalow at Gable Drive.  Mrs O’Neil is moving from a three-bedroom house just around the corner, where over the last 45 years, she brought up three children and provided a home for her parents. 

 “The bungalow is lovely,” said Mrs O’Neil.  “I won’t have to struggle getting up and down stairs, it will be much easier to keep clean, will cost less to heat, and is just around the corner from the shops.”

Six new bungalows are now completed on the site of a former hostel, which had been boarded up for many years and had become an eyesore.

Divisional director, Jane Keegan, handed over the keys to Mrs O’Neil along with a bouquet of flowers.

Jane said:  “The transformation of this area is amazing.  We invested £700,000 into building the bungalows, so that older people whose children have grown up and moved out, can downsize to a smaller home and free up larger properties for growing families.”