Government grant funding and support from Dorset Council has enabled BCHA to purchase a development in Ferndown of three flats with their own gardens
Thanks to grant funding from Homes England and support from Dorset Council, charitable housing association BCHA has been able to add a mixed use affordable housing development in Ferndown, Dorset, of three one-bedroom flats with their own gardens to its social housing portfolio.
There is an urgent need to deliver more housing for people on low incomes, particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic, when many people are experiencing severe financial hardship due to economic conditions. The purchase of this development by BCHA will help provide stability and suitable decent living conditions at a critical time.
The accommodation has been the subject of a major refurbishment programme to bring it up to the required high quality standards that BCHA’s customers can expect. The requirements were for the one-bed flats to be self-contained, in a suitable central location with high quality modern interiors and fittings. On this development, the developers created the ground floor flat by extending part of the existing garden space, and the upper floors above the shop were converted into flats.
Available for social rent by individuals nominated by Dorset Council, the flats will provide tenants with a safe, secure place to live, where they can build a positive future for themselves.
As the flats all have their own gardens, tenants will be able to keep their pets with them, which will provide further benefit for their psychological well-being.
Hony Premlal, BCHA’s Director of Customer, Homes and Tenancy, said: “I am absolutely delighted to be contributing to this excellent new development, which can also accommodate our customers’ pets. It is BCHA’s mission to tackle homelessness in the community, and our pleasure to help our customers in their quest for better lives. Adding to the stock of new housing is paramount in these unprecedented times.”
Councillor Graham Carr-Jones, Dorset Council Portfolio for Housing and Community Safety said:
“I’m delighted the council is supporting progressive developments like this, which show real thought as to the needs of the tenants who will live there.
“I think we can all appreciate how important access to outside space is, and it is great to know that the people who come to live in these flats can choose to keep their pets with them.
“These are the kind of things that make a place more than just somewhere you are living, but somewhere you can feel at home.”