Work is due to start in Randolph Road, Frome, as our multi-million pound plan to bring more affordable homes to the town finally gets under way.
We are redeveloping the area with Westbury Partnerships and we expect the whole area to be redeveloped in just under two years.
The plan is to demolish 54 pre-cast reinforced concrete (PRC) homes currently on Singers Knoll and Randolph Road in Frome and build 99 new homes and an 36-unit extra care scheme in their place.
The scheme will cost around £17 million and the Homes and Communities Agency agreed to fund the scheme with an £8 million grant in March. This commitment will help us double the number of affordable homes available to rent to people in housing need and offer a number for shared ownership homes for people to get their first foot on the housing ladder.
What's planned for the site:
- 73 rented homes to be built - 54 homes will replace what’s already on the site and there’ll be an additional 25 homes
- a 36-unit Extra Care scheme
- 24 homes for shared ownership
- two ‘new for old’ homes for the owner occupiers who want to stay on this estate
- one home will stay as it is after the owner decided to stay in their home
“This is an exciting project which will offer Frome a real boost in the number of affordable rented homes available to people in housing need,” said Alan Brunt, Managing Director of Flourish Homes, which is a member of the Aster Group.
“This is our biggest redevelopment plan to date and the tenants who live in those homes have been very patient with us as we worked to bring this project to life. The credit crunch crushed our original idea of entering into a partnership with a developer to build the homes at no cost to Flourish Homes in exchange for the extra homes built. So this is a major investment for us as a housing association and our Aster Group team, which develop homes on behalf of Flourish Homes, are working hard to attract funding from the Homes and Communities Agency to build the homes.
“Mendip is a beautiful place to live but that beauty comes with quite a price tag when it comes to buying a home and there are many local people who will never be able to afford to buy their own home. That’s why it’s vital that housing associations like Flourish Homes build affordable homes to rent.”
A project group of tenants and staff, led by Randolph Road resident Brent Milverton, is working to bring the plan to fruition. Tenants were involved in the selection of Westbury Partnerships, which is working with Flourish Homes to design and build the new estate.
The redevelopment is part of our development strategy, which includes looking at all our PRC homes. We have around 400 of these types of homes across the area and these homes have a lot of problems – such as being poorly insulated and expensive to maintain and improve. They often have large gardens, which can be a lot to maintain, and sit on large plots of ground which could accommodate more homes, still with reasonably sized gardens. This gives us an excellent opportunity to use land we own to build modern, energy-efficient homes, which are easy to maintain and more economical to run for tenants, many of whom are on low incomes. It also offers the chance to build more affordable homes to rent, helping more people on the housing register find a suitable home.
We've helped to fund the Home in Frome project, a community arts based project which is looking at the idea of 'home'. Tenants from Singers Knoll and Randolph Road are involved in the project. Visit the Home in Frome website here.
