oldham and rochdale are to get 7000 new homes built to the highest levels of energy efficiency and adaptability for the disabled.
The new homes, with a mixture of tenures, will replace the 6000 that the area's market renewal pathfinder, Partners in Action, plans to demolish.

They will include high-tech elements such as photovoltaic cells to generate low-cost energy, high levels of insulation and top-of-the-range heating systems.

The homes can also be easily adapted to meet the needs of disabled and elderly people.

Alastair Graham, the director of the pathfinder, said: "We want to completely change the image of the area and make it somewhere where people choose to live."

Partners in Action got £53.5m of government funding for the first two years of its 15-year programme from deputy prime minister John Prescott on 26 March – just £1m less than it had bid for.

Graham said the money would enable it to start demolition, refurbishment and new build.

n The ODPM has said it expects to commit £600m to the nine market renewal pathfinders in the first three years, not the £500m it has previously stated. A spokeswoman said this did not represent a real rise in spending, but a recognition that the government was prepared to "over-programme" by 20%.

Source

Housing Today