Providing more affordable homes doesn't just mean big new developments. Small steps are also needed. OX Place are helping us to make the most of what we've already got by modernising and extending empty council homes.
People with large families and with changing mobility needs can find themselves trapped in overcrowded and unsuitable homes. We need more council homes with five or more bedrooms and more adaptable council homes.
OX Place's extensions programme helped us deliver these. This involved work like changing internal layouts, loft conversions and building extensions to adapt and provide larger homes. It also meant modernising council homes by installing new windows and other improvements like enhanced insulation, energy efficient lighting and new wiring.
Delivered in partnership with Jessop and Cook Architects and ODS, the extensions programme also provided new affordable homes where empty council homes have large garden plots.
Completed work
The extensions programme is now complete and these homes have all been let to people on our housing register.
- ODS refurbished a three-bed house in Sandy Lane by converting a coal storage area and pantry into a modern utility room. The site was also suitable for building a new fully adaptable three-bed and a five-bed home. ODS used modular construction to build these, with prefabricated panels assembled onsite. Sandy Lane was supported by £110,000 in funding from the Oxfordshire Housing and Growth Deal.
- A three-bed house in Pauling Road was reconfigured and refurbished to bring it up to fully adaptable modern standards and a new three-bed home built. This project was supported by £55,000 in funding from the Oxfordshire Housing and Growth Deal.
- A loft conversion in Weirs Lane added a fourth bedroom to a three-bed home.
- ODS extended a three-bed house in Sparsey Place to create a fully adaptable home with five bedrooms and two bathrooms.
- ODS modernised and extended a two-bed house in Union Street into a fully adaptable home with five bedrooms.
- ODS modernised a two-bed house in Foxwell Drive, with changes to the internal layout creating an extended kitchen and new bathroom. ODS also built a new three-bed house on the site using timber frame construction, solar PV panels and an air source heat pump. Foxwell Drive was supported by £81,000 in funding from the Oxfordshire Housing and Growth Deal.
- ODS extended a three-bed house in Valentia Road into a fully adaptable one with five bedrooms, a ground floor shower room and potential to turn a ground floor room into a sixth bedroom.
- ODS built rear and side extensions turning a three-bed house in Westlands Drive into a fully adaptable five-bed home with a ground floor bedroom and potential shower room.
- By building rear and side extensions, ODS turned a three-bed house in Kempson Crescent into a fully adaptable five-bed home with level access and a ground floor bedroom and shower room.
