Story & photo: Rohan Francis
Community consultation on the design and construction of over 60 new homes on empty land at Earl Marshal Road could begin early next year (2014) after Sheffield Housing Company announced they were considering bringing forward the development due to the high demand for affordable housing.
The Earl Marshal site was cleared in 2007 as part of the Fir Vale Masterplan. The land was originally planned to provide 63 new family homes, with a number of properties promised to residents of Skinnerthorpe and Bagley Roads, whose homes were awaiting demolition under the previous Government’s Housing Market Renewal clearances. Unfortunately, years went by without any redevelopment of the site and local residents were forced to rehouse themselves outside the neighbourhood.
Sheffield Housing Company
After years of waiting, it looks like the site will finally be developed by Sheffield Housing Company (SHC) – a partnership formed in 2011 between house-builder Keepmoat, housing managers Great Places Housing and the land owner Sheffield City Council. At Earl Marshal, the Council will provide their land and the other partners will invest the building and management costs. Any profit or loss from the project will then be shared amongst the partnership.
To buy and to rent
SHC has said most of the new properties planned for the Earl Marshal site will be for sale, with about a third available for rent or ‘shared ownership’ – partly rented and partly owned.
Long life homes
The houses will be built to ‘Lifetime Homes’ standards, which simply means they can be easily adapted to include lifts and other mobility devices to allow the occupants to live in the property independently for as long as possible. Furthermore, 10% of the properties will be designed with mobility in mind and 15% will be built for people who use wheelchairs.
Looking forward
Councillor Talib Hussain, said: “Local people and local councillors have been waiting a long time to see houses being built on this site, so this is great news which I am sure will be welcomed by the Fir Vale community. It’s wonderful to see the consultation process starting and I look forward to seeing people moving into new homes.”
A promise of community consultation
The developers have promised local residents they will be able to comment on the proposals during the consultation process. SHC Project Director Tom Fenton said, “Once design teams are fully appointed, we will begin to engage with the local community to incorporate their views into the design and development of the homes.”
For more information on the project contact Tamsin Auckland or Ellie Roden on 203 7129 or email: sheffieldhousingcompany@sheffield.gov.uk