Residents have moved into a new affordable housing scheme at Avonmouth, Bristol.
Built on a brownfield site, close to the port of Bristol, the development provides affordable homes to rent for people in the local area.
The 26 homes are made up of 18 flats and eight houses. LiveWest partnered with Bristol City Council and Clayewater Homes to build the complex scheme.
Our resident Stuart, who has recently moved in, was living in rented accommodation before moving to the scheme with his grandson Riley.
Born and bred in Avonmouth, he is thrilled with the home as moving in has made him feel like he’s coming home and getting it has massively improved his life.
Our resident, Stuart Williams, said: “I think it's a fantastic place. It’s very big inside, it’s very spacious. The central leading system seems to be fantastic. I'm just glad that I fell on my feet with this house.
“The experience of moving here has been fantastic, you’ve got a small garden here but that’s good enough for me at my age too.
“It gives me a good mindset and got me out of a bad place to where I was in and now I'm 100% feeling better than where I was for the last few years.
“I definitely want to spend my days living here. It’s made such a difference moving to a new build scheme, it’s given me a new lease of life. Everything is here and when you have your family around every room is large. It’s just a lovely house.”
The development – which started in 2022 – benefits from grant funding from LiveWest’s strategic partnership with Homes England, the Government’s housing and regeneration agency.
Gareth Jones, our Development Director, said: “It’s been great welcoming the first residents to this fantastic development. It’s clear from the people we’ve spoken to, just what it means for them to have a new home.
“We’re committed to investing in communities and helping to meet the need for more affordable homes and we are delighted to be able to provide more homes in Bristol, where there is such strong housing need.
“The work carried out to build this development is a great advertisement for a collaborative working relationship with both Clayewater Homes, Bristol City Council and Homes England, who provided the grant funding for the project.”
The homes are built to a high Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) B and benefit from air source heat pumps, high thermal efficiency and PV panels.
The location also provides accessible transport links to Bristol City Centre.
Councillor Barry Parsons, Chair of the Homes and Housing Delivery Committee, said: “I can only imagine the joy people are feeling as they move into their new homes. We have a vision for Bristol, and that is that everyone has access to a safe, warm, secure home, at a price they can afford and to belong to a community in which they can thrive.
“We are committed to supporting Affordable Housing delivery and housing associations are key partners as we work together to meet this need. The delivery of these new affordable rented homes in Bristol will mean that 26 Bristol households now have a safe home they can afford.
“LiveWest is a longstanding, valued registered provider partner in the city, who work extremely closely with us to ensure the homes they deliver are targeted to meet housing need and to unlock barriers to delivery.”
Paul Madge, Land Director for Clayewater Homes, said: “Clayewater are delighted to have been involved with this scheme which marks our first development with LiveWest and are pleased to see residents enjoying their new homes.
“The delivery of new affordable housing schemes like this is extremely important so that we can tackle the housing shortage and we hope to deliver more opportunities like this in the future. We are grateful for the efforts and support from LiveWest, Bristol City Council and all our consultants in helping to bring this to fruition.”
Shahi Islam, Director of Affordable Housing Grants for Homes England, said: “It’s great to see the Avonmouth development completed with support from the Affordable Homes Programme, this is a prime example of how we work collaboratively with partners, to achieve our mission to build much needed new communities that people can be proud to call home.”