May 18, 2007 The popular BoKlok affordable housing project gained momentum in the UK on Wednesday with the announcement that Live Smart @ Home have applied to almost quadruple the number of properties the company is building. The stylish and efficient factory-fabricated family homes, which we previewed last month, are soon to go on sale, and likely to disappear fast.
Live Smart @ Home has already been granted permission to build 36 BoKlok flats at St James Village in Gateshead, and is now seeking approval to provide a further 84 properties on the site making a total of 120 units.
The vast majority of these properties will be BoKlok two and three-bedroom houses. These homes, which come with the same package and high quality features as the flats will be particularly targeted at young families or couples preparing to start a family.
Alan Prole, Managing Director of Live Smart @ Home, which is the commercial arm of leading affordable housing provider, Home, said: “We are very excited about bringing the BoKlok house to Gateshead. It marks another significant step forward in our plans to roll out the BoKlok concept of housing throughout the UK.
“The house has been designed by leading architects in both the UK and Scandinavia with the aim to provide modern, flexible family living that, importantly, is affordable.”
Councillor David Napier, Cabinet member for Gateshead Council with responsibility for Housing says: "There is a clear need for modern, affordable housing in many parts of the UK, including Gateshead. We have looked closely at BoKlok and we are very keen to see what it has to offer.
"If this system is as successful as we believe it might be, then it could offer a genuinely viable solution to the UK's growing affordable homes problem.
"We are especially pleased that Gateshead has been chosen as the site of the UK's first BoKlok development. We have a reputation as innovators, so its wholly appropriate that such an innovative development should be built here."
Like the flats, the state-of-the-art, Scandinavian-style timber framed BoKlok house will be aimed at households earning between £15,000 and £35,000 a year, already living locally and who do not own another house. They will be sold on an outright sale or shared ownership basis.
As well as the BoKlok houses, included in the planning application being made to Gateshead Council are 26 homes that will be made available for private sale under the Live Smart @ Home brand.
These homes will also be contemporary and of an exciting new design offering even more ‘green’ and innovative features. These homes are designed to appeal primarily to young professionals or families who desire to live in a modern environment with a strong community focus readily accessible to urban amenities.
Work at St James Village will get underway in June, with the first block of six flats expected to be complete by the end of the year. People who would like to register their interest in the Gateshead BoKlok development can do so through the website.