£400,000 facelift for troubled garage site in Wellingborough

Published by kerri smith for Wellingborough Homes in Housing and also in Communities

The site of dilapidated garages which had become a magnet for vandalism and flytipping has been transformed into a £400,000 housing development.

Wellingborough Homes decided the best way to tidy up the eyesore spot in Swinburne Road would be to demolish the garages and replace them with homes in a move which has been welcomed by local residents.

The development, called Blake Court, comprises two two-bedroom and one three-bedroom bungalows, the largest of which was specifically adapted for disabled use.

The decision was made to build bungalows on the site due to the differing heights of the ground levels - if houses had been built existing properties at the site would have been overlooked from the first floor.

The properties were designed by BRP Architects and built by PGR Construction.

Head of Property Services at Wellingborough Homes, Ray Whittaker, said: “The garages had fallen into disrepair and were attracting vandalism so we decided the best thing to do would be to demolish them and build a development on the site. The tenants there are over the moon.”

Donna Whittaker, 33, has moved into one of the bungalows in Blake Court with her four-year-old son.

Donna suffers with Fibromyalgia, a medical disorder characterised by a heightened and painful response to pressure.

She said: “I was finding walking up the stairs in my old house very difficult, so it’s fantastic that Wellingborough Homes has moved me to a bungalow now.

“I absolutely love my new home! I lived in a two bedroom house in Jubilee Crescent before this and it was very small and old. It just didn’t feel like home. I made it as nice as I could, but there is only so much you can do to an old house. This bungalow is so much bigger and more open. My son loves his new bedroom and we have room for all his toys now. It’s also wonderful to have a shower now. The old house just had a standard bath.”

Chief Executive Officer at Wellingborough Homes, Dave Willis, who also sits on the East Midlands Regional Committee of the National Housing Federation (NHF), added: “Our Blake Court development has utilised a redundant garage site that had become problematic for people in the area in terms of vandalism and fly-tipping. It is fantastic that Wellingborough Homes is able to really turn these areas around and make such a positive impact on the local communities.”