It always a wonderful moment to be able to celebrate new Council homes in Reading. Last Wednesday I was particularly pleased to be a part of the official opening of 46 new homes we’ve built on the Wensley Road estate in my ward of Coley.
We have created two 4-bed houses, 26 3-bed houses, two 1-bed and two 2-bed wheelchair accessible ground floor flats, six 1-bed flats and eight 2-bed flats. Many are already occupied with the remainder allocated and soon to be filled.
It is a particularly special project because all 46 households moving into the modern new homes are from within Reading’s Wensley Road community. They have all been able to watch their new homes being built from the start, from their previous Council flats in the three distinctive towers there.
I was joined last week by Matt Rodda, MP for Reading Central, my fellow Coley ward Councillors, council officers and – most importantly – members of the local community.
They included Olivia, a tenant of ours who cut the ribbon and is moving into one of the flats with her son having been in one the tower blocks for the past 24 years.
The new homes form just part of a wider Wensley Road estate improvements project, which has seen a new play park opened, improved landscaping including new pathways, and new parking spaces and roads. Regenerating and improving Reading’s communities remains a key objective for us.
The great thing about the Wensley Road regeneration project is that everyone gets to share in and experience the enhancements. After the opening of the new homes, the project will now continue with a series of additional projects due to start in September next year to update the three towers. They include:
– New windows for all flats
– Refurbished lifts
– Renewed heating systems
– Landscaping to areas around each tower
– An enclosed refuse facility
– Replacement of all outside insulation
We are always exploring opportunities to build more new homes such as those at Wensley Road, with each of our developments being part of a wider plan to increase the availability of affordable homes across Reading. This will not only help to address housing need in Reading to ease pressure on the housing register but also provide flexibility for current tenants to move to bigger homes as their families grow, and to downsize when the time is right.
As a Council we have delivered 421 council homes since 2014, including the 46 new homes opened last week. We have firm plans for a further 362 new council homes before the end of 2029, with work already under way on our sites in Hexham Road, Amethyst Lane and Dwyer Road where another 89 homes are being built.
It’s also important that the homes we are providing continue to reflect our response to the climate emergency through environmentally-friendly features such as solar panels and air source heat pumps. This strategy will also help ensure energy costs stay as low as possible for residents.
I’m proud that our ongoing new build programme will continue to provide even more affordable homes for people in Reading in the coming years.
By cllr Liz Terry, leader of Reading Borough Council
