Wates named on Flintshire housing programme
Flintshire County Council has appointed Wates Living Space as development partner for its strategic housing and regeneration programme, with potential for the contract value to reach £500m.
The first phase of the regeneration programme will see 500 affordable homes built across the region in the next five years.
Around 200 of the properties will be council houses.
The houses will be built on three sites, two urban and one rural. These include the cleared sites of maisonettes in Flint, with a mix of approximately 95 houses and apartments, the cleared site of the former Custom House School in Connah’s Quay and a rural site in Leeswood.
According to tender documents, there is scope within the programme for non-residential development, and potential for the council to invest in land for private schemes.
There will be an option to extend the agreement for up to five years. The contract is also open for use by other local authorities in Wales, meaning that the value of the contract could reach £500m.
Wates Living Space previously worked with the council on its Welsh Housing Quality Standard improvement programme.
Proposals are based on a Flintshire Housing Standard, which has been developed in consultation with tenants. The standard will inform the design and specification of the proposed new housing, including the consistency and quality of the internal and external appearance, in addition to standards of energy efficiency and an importance placed on adequate parking.
Cllr Helen Brown, cabinet member for housing, said: “It is very exciting to see the appointment of Wates Living Space as the development partner who will work with the Council to provide new and much needed affordable housing across the county. Further consultation on the design of the new homes is planned, with planning applications estimated to be submitted in late 2015.”