PlaceFirst’s Morecambe scheme passed

Specialist empty homes developer PlaceFirst has secured planning permission for a £5.5m scheme to create 51 apartments and houses in Morecambe.

The Manchester-based developer will breathe life into a stalled regeneration scheme by remodelling and refurbishing 28 empty Victorian terraced properties in the West End.

PlaceFirst's proposals won unanimous support from the planning committee of Lancaster City Council.

The empty Victorian properties were formerly used as guest houses and were the subject of a failed regeneration scheme that was approved in 2008 and would have involved demolition of the homes, but which was abandoned in 2010.

There will be a mixture of two-, three- and four-bed apartments and houses. Existing rear extensions and back yards will be demolished to create a communal garden.

The units will be offered to the private rental market and will be managed by a housing association on behalf of PlaceFirst.

Construction work is due to begin in May 2014 and the first homes are due to be available from June 2015.