MHA tenant Lyndon Lewis today welcomed Minister for Housing & Local Government, Julie James, AM, into his state of the art ‘home for the future’ for a coffee and chat.
Part-funded by the Welsh Government’s Innovative Housing Fund, designed by the Welsh School of Architecture (WSA), and built by Monmouthshire Housing’s own Building Services division, the development located in Mardy, Abergavenny comprises four highly-sustainable bungalows with an interlocking courtyard, created specifically for over 60’s.
Julie James, AM, Minister for Housing & Local Government said: “I was pleased to be invited into one of the completed bungalows and to meet the new resident.”
“Building more good quality, affordable and energy-efficient housing is a key priority for this Welsh Government – and will help towards our commitment to build 20,000 affordable homes during this Assembly term.”
“I am sure the residents will be happy in their new homes.”
An MHA tenant for 30 years, Mr Lewis recently moved into his new bungalow from nearby Charles Crescent and said: ”I am delighted to be able to welcome the Minister into my beautiful new bungalow.”
“Although I dearly loved my 3 bedroom home, my 3 children have flown the nest and I wanted to downsize to allow another family to enjoy living in a family home.”
“My wonderful, spacious new home is absolutely perfect for me, I am particularly happy that I no longer have stairs to navigate as they were proving to be a daily challenge for me. I genuinely feel moving to Cwrt y Fynnon could possibly prolongue my life!”
The concept for ‘homes for the future’ was the joint vision of MHA’s Chief Executive; John Keegan and Cardiff University’s Welsh School of Architecture.
MHA commissioned an independent research company to explore the ‘wants and needs’ of a group of people aged 60+, potentially looking to downsize. The findings showed ‘downsizers’ aspired to live in a property something between a family home and traditional ‘older persons housing’. Location is critical; being near amenities and transport links. The property should also be fully accessible and adaptable to accommodate circumstantial changes.
John Keegan, Chief Executive of Monmouthshire Housing Association said: “Cwrt y Fynnon is the second of Monmouthshire Housing’s ‘homes for the future’ developments, and is very much paving the way for future housing in Monmouthshire.”
“The Minister heard first-hand today about the massive impact these super energy efficient homes have had not only on Mr Lewis’ life, but also on the family who benefitted from moving into his former family home in Charles Crescent.”
“The icing on the cake was to recently hear the Minister’s announcement of an additional £30m investment in innovative projects across Wales. A proportion of which will enable MHA to develop a further 17 ‘homes for the future’; creating more happy tenants like Mr Lewis.”
Designed to offer flexibility in the future, the Welsh School of Architecture created a layout that can be easily transformed from a one bedroom to two bedroomed home should the household need an additional bed space.
The homes have state of the art monitoring including a weather station, internal environmental meter, hot water meter, smart energy meters and air quality equipment. Each home has been built to be highly sustainable and energy efficient, with a Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) impressively in excess of 100.
