Curo appoints Jehu to £8.5m regeneration scheme in Bristol

West of England housing association Curo has appointed Jehu Group as the main contractor to deliver 57 new affordable homes at a regeneration scheme in Lawrence Weston, Bristol.

The development, whose name ‘The Willows’ was suggested by a local resident, will consist of a mix of one, two and three-bedroom houses and apartments delivered across three adjoining sites. The project will include the conversion of Curo’s former office building at Holly House into 13 apartments for social rent. These will be let to people over 55 and will feature assistive technology, such as personal alarms or memory aids, that can be tailored to the needs of the occupiers and enable them to stay in their homes for longer.

Another 25 homes for affordable rent and 19 houses for shared ownership will be newly constructed on the land of the former Long Cross Inn and Rockwell care home.

Curo will also refurbish an existing block of 12 apartments which will benefit from external insulation, new windows and new electricity supplies. The improvements will help reduce heating bills and increase comfort for residents.

Curo’s investment of almost £5.7 million will be topped up by a Homes England grant of just over £2.8 million.

Works are starting in March, with the first few weeks of activity dedicated to setting up and preparing the site. This will be followed by demolition of the former Rockwell care home buildings, scheduled to start on 25th March and last approximately 12 weeks.

Curo Chief Executive, Victor da Cunha, says: “We’re looking forward to working with Jehu at The Willows. This exciting regeneration scheme won’t just provide new affordable housing for local people, it will also benefit the wider community by redeveloping vacant and underused land and improving the appearance and security of the area.”

Nigel Crawford, Operations Director of Jehu South West, says: “We are excited by our new partnership with Curo and are looking forward to delivering much needed affordable homes for the local community at The Willows. The Willows is an exciting development for the area, and we plan to develop a great relationship with the residents, the Oasis Bank Leaze Academy school and local businesses and leave a legacy when we have finished the project.”

Curo are building another 128 new homes in Lawrence Weston, including 90 homes for sale and 38 homes for social rent and shared ownership at their Century Park development.

The regeneration scheme at The Willows is expected to be completed by the end of 2022.