Flats hope for youngsters with nowhere to call home
YOUNG people on the cusp of homelessness have begun moving into apartments at a new £3.7m housing scheme.
Tenants have moved into a new 12 apartment development on Haddon Road, Eccles, Salford, as part of the first phase of the homeless prevention scheme by housing manager ForHousing. The one-bedroom homes are let at a low-cost sub-social rent.
Chloe Fox, 21, is one of the first tenants of the scheme. She moved into her apartment after she had to leave the home she was sharing with her sister.
Before being referred to ForHousing she lived in a bed and breakfast and at a homeless shelter where she shared a space with 30 other people.
Chloe said: “I am really pleased with my flat – I love my own space and feel I can live independently for the first time. The flat is really nice and I can be my own person there.”
Chloe will also be helped by ForHousing in achieving her goal of working in social care.
Kirsten Foy, tenancy sustainment officer at ForHousing, said: “Chloe seems to be thriving. Initially, she had massive worries about living independently, but she’s doing really well, even helping to deliver supplies to other tenants. Now she’s got a safe place to live and has been working with us to get the extra support she needs, I’m confident she will go on to turn her life around permanently.”
The Haddon Road site is part of a wider plan from ForHousing to build 39 homes for those facing homelessness in Greater Manchester. Other sites at Vicars Street and Somerset Road, both in Salford, are expected to be completed later this year.
ForHousing owns and manages 24,000 homes across the north west and is part of the ForViva Group, which secured a grant of £1.46m from Homes England towards the scheme.
Salford city mayor Paul Dennett said: “Providing affordable homes for those who need it most is an absolute priority of mine and Salford council.”
Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham added: “Developments like this one at Haddon Road – a valuable scheme as part of a wider joined-up approach to tackling homelessness and in particular rough sleeping across Greater Manchester – demonstrate a proactive solution to one of the biggest social challenges we face.”