Housing

Affordable housing developer Lovell has been chosen for a £3.7 million project to build a 40-flat supported accommodation development for YMCA Norfolk in Norwich.

The company will build the three- and four-storey development of self-contained flats which will provide ‘move-on’ accommodation helping young homeless people prepare for independent living.

The project involves the redevelopment of the back part of the YMCA’s current building in St Giles Street with the new flats. Lovell will demolish the existing 1960s bedsits and a gymnasium on the Bethel Street side of the building with the St Giles Street frontage remaining intact. The new supported accommodation facility will feature a bank of photovoltaic panels to supplement its heating supply.

The scheme is the second project which Lovell has undertaken for YMCA Norfolk. Working alongside Flagship Housing Group, the company successfully completed a £2.65 million scheme to build a 34-bedroom assessment centre in All Saints Green, Norwich, in 2008.

“We are delighted to be linking up once again with YMCA Norfolk for this exciting new development which will help to address the need for accommodation for vulnerable young people in Norwich,” says Lovell regional director Simon Medler.

“Our aim is to have a building that, through its quality and design, shows care and respect to some of the least fortunate in our society and we are really pleased to be working with Lovell again in order to make this a reality,” says YMCA Norfolk chief executive Tim Sweeting.