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Issue Date: 8 January 2007
Eager buyers snap up homes in North Benwell
Four derelict properties undergoing conversion into family homes in North Benwell have been snapped up by buyers eager to move to the area.
The homes, priced for affordable sale between £80,000 and £110,000, are being transformed by affordable housing provider Home with funding from the housing market renewal pathfinder Bridging NewcastleGateshead (BNG).
The formerly derelict properties have been gutted and are benefiting from rewiring, new and double glazing, plastering and painting. New showers are being installed in the properties and improvements are being made to the properties’ yards.
The buyers are being given a choice of kitchens as well as tiles and floor coverings in the kitchens and bathrooms.
The properties have been sold through Sarah Mains and follow in the success of a previous scheme in the area in 2006 where five converted homes were sold in the space of just one week.
Anne Mulroy, Director of BNG said: "North Benwell is an area really on the up, and the fact that these new homes have been snapped up so quickly bears testament to that.
"There is a great community spirit in the area, and much work has been done over the years to bring improvements. More and more people want to live in good quality, affordable homes in North Benwell and we are delighted to be able to support them to do so."
One local resident who has reserved one of the properties commented: "We are really looking forward to moving into a bigger house, and I’m happy to be staying in the area where I grew up."
The news of the sale of the four properties comes after it was revealed that a home that was bought in North Benwell for 50p seven years ago has been sold for over £140k.
In addition, figures released last year by the North Benwell Neighbourhood Management Initiative – a project committed to improving the area – show that crime and the number of empty homes are falling. Crime in North Benwell fell by 30 per cent between September 2004 and September 2005, and the number of empty homes in the area decreased by 32 per cent in the same period.