New homes on offer in the Wall
THESE gleaming new homes are the latest addition to the Byker Wall Estate.
The first £750,000 phase of a project to transform former ‘hobby rooms’ on the famous estate concluded on Friday, as 10 families moved into brand new homes.
According to the Byker Community Trust (BCT), which owns the estate, recently named the best neighbourhood in the UK, many of the hobby rooms included in Ralph Erskine’s original design have gone unused over recent years.
Originally designed for social enterprise and community activities, the BCT says many of the rooms were better suited to conversion into one- and two-bed houses, with some specially adapted for disabled access.
One of the new residents, Lafai Camara, 46, said: “I am over the moon to receive the keys to my new home, particularly as it is just before Christmas.
“I’m looking forward to living in Byker and on this iconic estate so close to Newcastle city centre.”
Handing over the keys to Lafai’s new home on Raby Way, Newcastle East MP Nick Brown said: “I welcome this reinvestment in the Byker Estate creating extra homes at affordable rents. I wish the housing programme every success.”
Jill Haley, chief executive of BCT, added: “BCT is helping to meet the demand for affordable new homes across the city by refurbishing these disused hobby rooms and creating individually designed modern new homes. The new homes are unique dwellings upholding the trademark Erskine design.
“We undertook a detailed feasibility study to explore their current condition and potential future use and agreed that some could create modern new homes.
“This is another exciting project for BCT and complements the other multimillion pound investment projects, which we have already delivered on the estate since we were established in 2012.
“We have 88 hobby rooms in total which are spread across the estate and were originally designed to fit around the local community that existed here in Byker back in the 1960s.
“Some rooms are still used for their original purpose and we will continue to promote the use of other rooms in the same way.
“We have some exciting new projects coming up in Byker during the next year.”