£5 CITY LIVING DEVELOPMENT

A £5m city living development in the heart of Derby has been unveiled. Blueroom Properties Ltd wants to demolish 66 small rented flats and bedsits called Greenwood Court in Phoenix Street, and replace them with 74 bigger, more modern apartments with parking spaces. The company, the development arm of North British Housing (NBH), has applied to Derby City Council to give the scheme its approval. NBH claims that demand for the current Greenwood Court accommodation in Derby has fallen and, as a result, about a third of the apartments are currently standing empty.

The apartments do not offer enough space to residents, according to NBH, and their low demand, allied to a high turnover of tenants, has led to the scheme becoming unsustainable. The new flats would also be for rent. NBH is a Preston-based private housing association, part of the Places for People Group, which specialises in creating affordable housing. NBH regional manager Michael Vickers said, "Our aim is to achieve a mixed tenure site, which will include affordable housing, to make the scheme sustainable now and in the future. We will be offering compensation and disturbance payouts to current residents where appropriate."

Residents currently living at Greenwood Court have been informed about the plans and according to NBH are kept regularly updated at weekly residents meetings. NBH has said it has found new homes for some of them and is providing help for rehousing through Derby City Council, with residents being given priority on housing waiting lists. But one Greenwood Court resident, who has lived there for 12 years, said, "We have accepted that we have to move out - but we have no idea when or where we will end up. We have been placed on housing registers and that is the last we have heard. We have been told that the new apartments would be at a premium rent - so I doubt we would be able to live in them. It seems they want to push us out and get in more wealthy tenants."

Chief planning officer at Derby City Council, Mike Kaye, said, "We will analyse the application thoroughly and carry out consultations with various bodies before we form a view to put before the planning committee." The building will be in the shape of a horseshoe, with provision for parking in the middle of it. It will contain predominantly one and two bedroom flats. If all goes to plan, Blueroom hopes the development could be completed by the end of next year. The proposed apartments would be next door to a new separate development in nearby Stuart Street.

In May, developer Derby City Living Ltd, of Ashbourne, bought the 0.73-acre site belonging to steel stockholder Eggleston Brothers. The firm will build 76 luxury apartments for sale overlooking the River Derwent in a £14m development, which will start once Eggleston has relocated to new premises in Alfreton Road.