A 252-home development in Walsall has reached a major milestone, with the first affordable homes now complete.
The first shared ownership and affordable rent homes at Lockside, on the site of the former Caparo Engineering works, were handed over to whg by developer Anthem Lovell on Friday. Customers are expected to move in later this summer.
Meanwhile, homes for outright sale are in huge demand. All the new homes have been carefully designed to sympathetically fit within their surroundings to create a new and exciting place to live.
To mark the occasion local MP, Eddie Hughes visited the site to see how the once derelict steelworks is being transformed into a thriving, sustainable community.
The £44 million scheme is the first development for joint venture developer Anthem Lovell, a partnership between Anthem Homes, a subsidiary of whg and partnership developer Lovell.
Lockside will provide a selection of one, two, three and four-bedroom homes with 132 available for open market sale through Lovell Homes, with whg taking on 120 properties for affordable rent and shared ownership, including a 50-home wellbeing scheme for over-55s.
The MP’s visit comes days after whg announced exciting plans to develop an additional 72 affordable homes on the former Metafin factory site which has been derelict for many years.
Eddie Hughes MP (Walsall North): “It was brilliant to see how much progress has been made on site since my last visit. It is clear Lockside is going to be a place to be proud of and it’s great to hear there is so much demand for both the shared ownership and sale properties. A brownfield site, transformed into a new community of all types of homes, is what levelling up is all about.”
Rebecca Bennett Casserly, whg’s Corporate Director of Development, said: “We are really proud to be working in partnership with Lovell to create an exciting new place where people want to live. It is fantastic to see the first affordable homes built. Our shared ownership properties have proved hugely popular and we can’t wait to welcome the first of many customers moving into this wonderful new community later this summer.”
Stuart Penn, regional managing director for Lovell said: “We knew there was huge demand for homes in Walsall, but it’s even greater than we expected at Lockside. Working with whg, we are proud to be meeting housing demand in the region with a range of properties to suit first-time buyers, second steppers and growing families as well as building much needed affordable homes.”