Three Councillors inspected a newly built two-bedroom flat this week which will soon be home for a local homeless family.
Leader of Barking and Dagenham Council, Cllr Darren Rodwell, was joined by Cllrs Sade Bright, Cabinet Member for Employment, Skills and Aspiration, Cameron Geddes, Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Social Housing, and Tara Mahony, of Be First, to see the apartment which will be one of 92 new homes on the former Weighbridge site in Dagenham.
The properties are being built off-site using top quality materials, and are being delivered to the site at Cook Road, Dagenham. So far around 25 homes have been delivered.
Councillor Darren Rodwell said: “The flat looks great and I am sure it will make a wonderful new home for local families who otherwise may have had to live in hostels, or expensive temporary accommodation, sometimes outside the borough.
“These new homes are part of a wider programme which will give local homeless families more stability and save us hundreds of thousands of pounds from our budget.”
Once complete, the development will feature 24 one-bedroom flats, 36 two-bedroom flats and 32-three-bedroom homes.
Tara Mahony, Assistant Construction Manager at Be First, said: “We’re really cracking on with the delivery of this development which will give families who have been living in insecure accommodation a more stable future.”
William Jerram, Managing Director of Jerram Falkus, which is carrying out the work on behalf of Be First, said: “We are delighted to be working in partnership with Be First to deliver one of Barking and Dagenham’s first modular housing developments and it is making great progress.”
The Weighbridge development is part of a wider programme which will deliver around 127 new homes to house local homeless people and families.
This means the council is offering an additional safety net for homeless families to remain within the borough at the same time as reducing the cost of providing temporary accommodation which is currently £18million a year.
