£3.3m affordable homes plan for land in Mill Hill, Blackburn

Great Places Housing Group is proposing to build a 24-home development on Bowen Street in Mill Hill with a mix of two-bed bungalows along with two and three-bedroom houses.

All homes would be for affordable rent and let.

The scheme is the latest for the firm in Mill Hill as Great Places looks to expand its portfolio.

Great Places are also investing heavily across East Lancashire including another £3.3million investment programme at Bowland House in Blackburn and £7.4million to build 53 new homes for affordable rent in Oswaldtwistle.

Helen Spencer, director of development, said: “As an organisation, we are going above and beyond to help solve the housing crisis.

“We have a strong presence in Mill Hill with almost 1,000 properties in the area and this scheme will continue in our commitment to offer much-needed quality and affordable housing.

“Blackburn’s housing market is transforming with the amount of activity and we are delighted to be part of this journey and bring more investment to the town.”

Great Places will be working in partnership with Tyson Construction, who will be acting as the principal contractor. The scheme has been designed by Pozzoni Architecture and takes into account the local streetscape and design.

Great Places is also preparing to submit a planning application for new homes on the site of the former Laneside care home, which was bought up using a compulsory purchase order by Blackburn with Darwen Council earlier this year. The site has been left empty for over 10 years and is also in serious disrepair.

The empty building became a target for vandalism, fly tipping and anti-social behaviour.

Great Places aim to provide new build affordable family accommodation on the site following demolition of the current building.

The firm has undertaken a number of surveys at the site and have prepared a scheme layout which provides 16 new homes consisting of eight two-bed and eight three-bed homes for affordable rent.