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 is helping us deliver these. This involves work like changing internal layouts, loft conversions and building extensions to adapt and provide larger homes. It also means 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, the extensions programme is also helping provide new affordable homes where empty council homes have large garden plots.
Work in progress
- Rear and side extensions are turning a three-bed house in Kempson Crescent into a five-bed home with level access and a ground floor bedroom and shower room. This means the fully refurbished home can be used flexibly for people with mobility needs. OX Place is working in partnership with our direct services company ODS to deliver this project.
- Rear and side extensions are turning a three-bed house in Westlands Drive into a five-bed home with a ground floor bedroom and potential shower room. This means the fully refurbished home can be used flexibly for people with mobility needs. OX Place is working in partnership with ODS to deliver this project.
Completed work
These homes have now all been let to people on our housing register.
- A three-bed house in Sandy Lane was refurbished by converting a coal storage area and pantry into a modern utility room. The site was also suitable for building a new three-bed and a new five-bed home. ODS used modular construction to build these, with prefabricated panels assembled onsite. The new homes are fully adaptable. The Sandy Lane project 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 modern standards and a new three-bed home built. The new home is fully adaptable. 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.
- An extension in Sparsey Place turned a three-bed house into a fully adaptable home with five bedrooms and two bathrooms. OX Place worked in partnership with ODS to deliver this project.
- Modernisation and an extension turned a two-bed house in Union Street into a fully adaptable home with five bedrooms. OX Place worked in partnership with ODS to deliver this project.
- Modernisation of a two-bed house in Foxwell Drive changed the internal layout with an extended kitchen and new bathroom. ODS also built a new three-bed house on the site using timber frame construction. The new home has 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.
- An extension turned a three-bed house in Valentia Road into one with five bedrooms and potential to turn a ground floor room into a sixth bedroom. A new ground floor shower room means the refurbished home can be used flexibly for people with mobility needs. OX Place worked in partnership with ODS to deliver this programme
