A MAJOR scheme to build 16 new council homes as part of a £1.7million project in Kingswinford is set to get underway.

The project will see an existing row of shops and maisonettes in Beech Road demolished after Dudley Council was given planning permission to build 12 two-bedroom and four one-bedroom apartments on the site earlier this year.

Demolition work started this week and all of the new homes are expected to be built and ready to let by autumn next year.

Dudley News:

Pic - l-r - Cllr David Vickers, the council’s deputy leader cabinet member for housing, Steve Mitchell, Martin Turner and Mark Roberts from Jessup Homes and council leader Cllr Patrick Harley.

The project is the latest to go ahead as part of the authority’s commitment to building more new affordable homes in the borough.

Councillor David Vickers, deputy leader of the council and cabinet member for housing, said: “We’ve been working for a long time to make this project a reality.

"This project gives us the opportunity to not only regenerate an area that has been crying out for redevelopment in recent years but also provide new affordable homes for local people in area where we have a limited number of council properties available.”

Dudley News:

The new homes will be built by award winning developer, Jessup, as part of its construction framework agreement with the council.

Clive Jessup, managing director at Jessup, said: “We have all worked hard on this scheme and it’s great to see it finally underway.

“The design has been closely coordinated with the development team at Dudley to ensure a flexibility of affordable apartments for Dudley residents and we look forward to delivering another high quality scheme for the council.”