24 new affordable family homes complete in Fitton Hill
04/05/2023
We're delighted to announce we have completed 24 new family homes in Fitton Hill, helping to increase supply of affordable housing in the borough and make a difference to the local community.
Our modern housing scheme at Tanners Fold has been built by our development partner, J Walker Homes and has transformed the former site of St Cuthbert's Church with 24 three-bedroom, high quality, energy efficient houses that help meet housing need today and are fit for the future.
The £4.4m project received £936k funding from Homes England and is part of our strategy to build 1,100 high quality, sustainable homes in Oldham, Rochdale, Tameside, Kirklees and Calderdale 2020-2026.
All the properties at Tanners Fold are for affordable rent, set at no more than 80% of local market rent, and have been let to people through Oldham Council’s housing register.
Phased handovers took place at the development December 2022- February 2023 and landscaping across the scheme was completed in April 2023.
Supporting our work to make a positive and lasting impact in our communities, J Walker Homes generated a number of social value benefits through the project. These include providing apprenticeship placements across a variety of construction trades and giving back to the community with donations to the Salvation Army Fitton Hill branch and FCHO’s Mission Christmas gift appeals. Additionally, 55% of the housebuilder’s total build spend was with businesses within a ten-mile radius of the site.
Customer Patricia Adams is among those settling into her new home at Tanners Fold, and says it stopped her family from falling into homelessness. She said:
“I was renting privately but received a Section 21 notice when our landlord wanted to sell his property. We had to find another place or become homeless. It was very stressful and tough for us all. Being offered this new home has made such a difference to our family.”
Joel Owen, our Director of Development, said:
“We are committed to delivering quality, sustainable, great homes we are proud of and I’m delighted to see this latest development with J Walker Homes complete and making such a difference to residents like Patricia and her family.
“Important too is the work our development partner has done to bring benefits to the area during the build - supporting the local economy and creating opportunities for local people and businesses through our work is a priority for FCHO.
“There’s an acute shortage of affordable housing in Oldham and surrounding areas and these new homes are part of our plan to build a range of property types - from one and two-bedroom apartments to family houses - and offer tenures such as affordable rent and shared ownership to help meet housing need.
“I congratulate all the new Tanners Fold residents on their new homes and wish them all the best.”
Jon Walker, Director at J Walker Homes said: “Our aim is to provide quality, energy efficient and ultimately sustainable homes for the residents of Oldham. During the construction process, we were able to offer placement opportunities to a variety of apprentices and maintain our commitment to invest in the local economy, utilising the supply chain. We look forward to the next opportunity to work closely with the forward thinking, innovative management teams at FCHO.”
Tanners Fold is the second development that FCHO and J Walker Homes have collaborated on. In 2021, we completed 15 three and four- bedroom family homes for affordable rent at the Royley scheme in Royton together.
We currently have 329 homes on site with construction partners at 11 developments in Oldham, Rochdale and Kirklees. In this financial year, we are set to start 169 homes on site and complete 186 for shared ownership and affordable rent to help meet growing demand.