Faithful+Gould, has drawn upon the expertise of its extra care specialist Roger Standish for its latest social housing project with Milecastle Housing.

Building on an already strong relationship with the Hexham based housing provider, the extra care project will see Faithful+Gould providing Project Management, Quantity Surveying and Construction Design Management Co-ordination (CDMC) expertise as well as acting as an EcoHomes assessor on the £6.5 million scheme, The Manors.

The Manors will provide an independent living environment for the over 55’s, consisting of 46 extra care apartments in West Wylam. It will also incorporate amenities for the residents and local community including a restaurant, internet lounge, function rooms, hair salon, treatment room and a day care centre.

Roger Standish, a senior project manager with Faithful+Gould, has over 20 years of specialist extra care experience gained from previous work with a number of national housing associations and is providing valuable advice to Milecastle Housing during construction of The Manors. He says:

“Endeavouring to meet the rapidly emerging demand for affordable, flexible, independent apartments offering choice of mixed tenure accommodation with tailored care for older people in the North East Region, The Manors is Milecastle Housing’s first extra care housing scheme in response to the region’s housing strategy.

“Responding to the predicted 75% increase in the number of people in the UK aged over 65 during the next 30 years, affordable extra care housing schemes are becoming an important part of the local community and it is therefore essential that they receive the best guidance and advice available.

“We feel that given our experience in delivering affordable extra care housing across the North, we have been best placed to assist Milecastle Housing on The Manors. We have done this by being actively involved at all stages of the development process, from pre bid stage through to final account, working closely with and advising the client and design teams by tailoring specifications and developing value engineered solutions to difficult scheme specific problems.”

Sean McKeon, associate director of Faithful+Gould, added:

“We are delighted to be working with Milecastle Housing again and by utilising Roger’s extensive knowledge and unmatched experience in this sector we believe we are providing a really valuable service.

“Our expertise in the social housing sector is well known, having provided similar services for North East housing providers such as NomadE5 and Castle Morpeth Housing. This development is particularly significant for our team as we will be continuing our longstanding relationship with Milecastle Housing which has spanned it’s creation to it’s incorporation into the hugely successful =ISOS Group.”

A member of the =ISOS Group, Milecastle Housing is a not for profit housing association providing affordable social housing in Tynedale, Northumberland with over 3100 homes in the area.

Bill Tebay, Managing Director of Milecastle Housing, said:

“It is very exciting to be involved in The Manors. Although it is the first project of this kind we have developed, we have every confidence that the scheme will run smoothly with Faithful+Gould’s extensive expertise behind us.”

The Manors, funded by the Department of Health in partnership with the Northumberland Care Trust, Tynedale Council and Northumberland County Council, is due to be completed in May 2009.

Email: charlotte.nichols@clothierlacey.co.uk