Older Residents Set to Benefit from New Housing Development

One of the biggest housing associations in the United Kingdom has announced their plans to build 186 affordable homes which will be specifically designed to appeal to older residents. Within the next two weeks, Orbit Homes will submit their formal planning application to Warwick District Council to build the £26 million independent living complex in Leamington.

Both Orbit Homes and their partner in the scheme (Coventry-based Deeley Group) believe the site is perfectly located for this type of development. The project is on the site of a former factory and has been empty for over a decade. Local residents have been invited to a meeting to get a preview of the housing development aimed at the over 55s. The new complex will also include a restaurant, hairdressing salon, IT suite and café which will all be available for use by the whole community.

Lorraine Mansfield, Orbit’s business development manager, said “Our Independent Living with Care schemes are designed to help local people remain independent in their own home, providing a place where they can enjoy a real community spirit with like-minded people. We believe this will be a valuable addition to the area. Similar schemes have proved to be widely popular in other parts of the region.”

For the past year the Deeley Group and Orbit’s Heart of England division have been having “constructive” dealings with the district council and local landlords who will be buying fifty of the new homes on the understanding that they must be rented out to older tenants and be protected with landlord insurance. Any private landlords who add one of the new properties to their portfolio must sign a contract with the council that states if they do not stick to the contract, the council can buy the property back. Members of the council’s review board all appear to broadly welcome the proposals and if they give the green light for the development, work will be started by the end of the year. When the work is completed the development will employ around fifty people and everyone involved feels confident it will be a significant addition to the neighbourhood, not just for much needed jobs but also for local housing.

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