The housing regeneration programme for Burngreave and Fir Vale has an ambitious target of providing more good quality, affordable homes for a wide range of people.
With a rapidly growing population in the area, there is clearly a strong demand for housing. Some houses and flats have been demolished already to create land for new quality family houses. In other areas – like Woodside – the land has been cleared some time ago so redevelopment is imminent.
That leaves a range of houses and streets which are staying, like the ‘Page Hall terraces’ for example, but these can't be improved with direct grant work because of government rules. Getting a ‘new’ house by renovating your own place will still be more affordable than buying a brand new house somewhere else.
Two weeks ago, there was a really interesting exhibition at the Wensley community centre above Page Hall. The Council’s East Regeneration team invited architects to enter designs for improving actual houses.
Back have come ideas for converting two houses into one (for example, five bedrooms; a living basement; a central atrium where the gennel used to be…) for under £100,000. And other designs for single houses to become eco-homes (with zero/few carbon emissions); to become ‘healthy’ homes; and to become a ‘21st century terrace’ – all for under £50,000.
The winners were selected by a panel of academics, housing officers and a Fir Vale resident and over the next 12 months, these designs will be brought to life. Then next autumn, the doors will all be thrown open for everyone and anyone to see the end result – and to talk with the designers about how these improvements can be repeated in your own home.
All the winning designs can be seen on the website: http://www.sheffield.gov.uk/in-your-area/area-action/burngreave-area-action/is sues- actions-and-plans
Councillor Jackie Drayton, Chair of the Area Panel, explains the reasons behind the competition: “Most of the houses in this area are privately owned, and some do need work doing to them. We wanted to demonstrate ways to improve them. This scheme will also bring five empty properties back into use, and set high standards for future housing in the area.”
Ivor Wallace from Page Hall Community Association says: “This is a real opportunity to see what could done with our houses – not just talking but seeing different designs, different layouts.”
Two of the design submissions can be viewed in the PDFs below: