£19m investment sees 138 affordable homes built in Blackburn

A £19m regeneration scheme in Blackburn's Griffin and Mill Hill areas has seen 138 new homes built over four sites.

In Griffin, the £8.1.m Shakespeare Way development saw 56 new homes built, while in Mill Hill 24 new homes have been built at the £3.3m scheme on Bowen Street, 16 new homes at the £2.8m scheme on Shorrock Lane and 42 new homes at the £5.1m New Wellington Street scheme.

In total, 123 are available for affordable rent and 15 for sale through shared ownership.

The development was overseen by the Great Places Housing Group and undertaken by Seddon Construction Ltd, R P Tyson Construction and Hargreaves Contracting. Three apprenticeship roles were created for the work.

At the ribbon-cutting ceremony, coun Phil Riley of Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council, said: "It was a privilege to be able to visit the homes of the new tenants as part of the tour and they shared their stories and told us how they had truly transformed their lives.

"To also hear about the demand for the new houses shows just how important projects like these are – providing new, quality, energy-efficient homes for our residents which are affordable. It’s also an example of what great partnership working can achieve and I’d like to thank Great Places and their contractors for all their hard work on the schemes."

Helen Spencer, executive director of growth at Great Places, said: "We experienced high demand with more than 400 people applying for the new homes on the Griffin development alone. We also saw a huge demand for our shared-ownership homes – offering residents a chance to get on the property ladder. We look forward to delivering more of that tenure in Blackburn.

"In Mill Hill, we have delivered our largest modular development to date – a new way of building houses - and it is fantastic to see the end result there."