£2.5m New Homes Scheme a Success

An eye catching development of new homes in Preston has been hailed a success.

The 25 houses – at Crummock Road, Fishwick – have been built by Community Gateway Association in Preston.  The scheme, which cost £2.5m, replaces flats that had been built in the 1930s in a road formerly known as Patterdale Close.

The homes are the first to be completed by Community Gateway, who employed Leigh based housing association Adactus Housing Group as development agents.

Andrew Mason, Regeneration Manager for Community Gateway Association, said:  “This scheme has replaced low demand flats and a number of play areas that were unused and a magnet for anti-social behaviour with a high quality development that we are very pleased with.  The transformation of the estate is quite remarkable.”

The role of Adactus as development agents was to manage the consultants, including the architects, to ensure that the project was within budget, and then to provide a clerk of works to oversee the build.

Andrew added:  “We are delighted with the scheme, and with the job that Adactus did for us as development agents.  As a relatively new housing association with limited in house experience of development, we wanted someone who was local to Preston and who had a track record of delivery on major projects.  Adactus have done just what we asked for.”

16 of the houses have been built in a cul-de-sac on the site of the flats with a further 9 houses built around the estate on the small parcels where the play areas were previously located.

Kerry Schumacker, Senior Development Officer for Adactus, said:  “As development agents, it was our job to ensure that the client’s brief was met.  The design of the new cul-de-sac with through pedestrian access was very scheme specific and designed by Ark, who were the architects for the scheme.  We are extremely pleased that Community Gateway are happy with the service that we have provided and that they have chosen to use us on other schemes that they are proposing to build.”