Work to bring 38 affordable, eco-friendly homes to Oldham is now complete

Residents at a new affordable housing development in Oldham are benefitting from energy efficient, low carbon homes that are fit for the future, says local housing association, First Choice Homes Oldham (FCHO).

The latest development from FCHO has transformed a long-term vacant plot of land off Cherry Avenue in the Alt neighbourhood into 38 two and three-bedroom, eco-friendly houses, all for affordable rent.

In doing so, the housing provider has brought a much-needed boost to the number of high-quality, affordable family homes available to residents in the Oldham borough.

Delivered in partnership with Tyson Construction, all homes at the scheme are designed to be 15% more energy efficient than minimum requirements of the building regulations, helping customers to save energy and keep bills down.

Each property has been fitted with increased ground floor, wall and loft insulation to help make homes cheaper to heat and stay warmer for longer.

All the homes have been allocated to people on Oldham Council’s housing register and the majority of residents have moved in.

The £6.1m development is part of FCHO’s ambitious strategy to deliver 1,100 sustainable properties in Oldham and surrounding areas 2020-2026 to meet increasing demand across the region.

The housing association received £1.5m grant funding from Homes England for the build.

As part of the Cherry Avenue project, Tyson Construction also carried out improvements to the local area to make a positive and lasting impact.

Activities include sponsoring a competition to name a street at the build; clearing rubbish from a nearby fly tipping hotspot in June 2022; and supporting FCHO’s Alt Community Waste Collection Days in January this year, providing free-to-use skips for local people to dispose of waste in.

The team has supported volunteers at Alt Community Café by clearing their garden and preparing the space, ready to make it more usable for people to enjoy, too.

Cara and her family are among the new residents at the development and says the move has made such a difference to them.

She said: “It’s lovely. I’m really pleased to be able to call this our home.

“We’d been on the housing waiting list for years and if we didn’t have this place, I don’t know where we’d be now.

"It’s much better for us.

“The facilities are great – inside and outside – and the house is so warm.

"I think the energy saving things will really make a difference to our energy bills in the colder months.

“It’s very quiet, too.

"To have peace in your own home when there’s a lot going on makes all the difference.”

Joel Owen, FCHO’s Director of Development, said: “Completion of this development at Cherry Ave is an important milestone for FCHO and I’m pleased to see Cara and our other residents settling into their new homes.

“We are acutely aware of the desperate need for more affordable housing in Oldham, where demand far outstrips supply and are delighted to have worked with our partners including Oldham Council to bring forward a scheme that has transformed a former brownfield site, providing a mix of modern, high-quality homes and prioritising sustainability, all to benefit residents.

“Important too is the work that Tyson Construction has done to support the local area during the build, and we’re pleased to be working with a contractor who shares our commitment to creating social value.”

Looking ahead to the autumn, FCHO will be planting a series of pear trees at the housing development as a nod to the road there called Pear Tree View.

In spring 2021, local man Alan Tupman made his own piece of history by suggesting the street name in a competition which attracted 145 entries from people across the borough.

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