New housing project to tackle homelessness begins

A ground-breaking ceremony has marked the start of works on a £4.5m project, which will see 19 apartments built to support those experiencing homelessness in the Wrexham area.

The Tŷ Nos scheme in Wrexham, which is a partnership between ClwydAlyn Housing Association, Wrexham County Borough Council and Welsh Government will see the construction of 19 one bedroom apartments built by GMC Construction.

The new affordable apartments are part of ClwydAlyn’s ambitious build programme and its mission to tackle poverty in North Wales; through ensuring that everyone has access to excellent quality housing and addresses the causes and impacts of poverty.

Executive Director of Development at ClwydAlyn, Craig Sparrow said:

“We are committed to working with our partners here on the Tŷ Nos project to meet the local housing needs in the area as well as support those experiencing homelessness.

“This exciting project will build on our commitment to beat poverty here in North Wales as well as bring much needed suitable accommodation to the local area, offering new, modern homes that will meet the needs of the local population.”

Built to be highly energy efficient, these homes will be built to ‘Beattie Passivhaus standards’, with a timber framed structure provided by Creating Enterprise and high levels of insulation. Creating efficient low carbon apartments that will ensure the minimum amount of energy is needed to keep the homes warm, reducing energy costs, whilst providing a much greener and cleaner way of living.

“I was delighted to attend the ground-breaking ceremony for ClwydAlyn’s new Tŷ Nos development. The project will involve 19 new, purpose-built apartments to support homeless people living in Wrexham – as well as on-site support to give tenants the best chance of success going forward. With 300 local people across the Wrexham County Borough in temporary accommodation, this is a much-needed facility that will make a real difference to local residents’ lives. I want to thank ClwydAlyn for all that they are doing Wrexham, and congratulate them as they begin work on Tŷ Nos.”

Conservative Member of Parliament for Wrexham, Sarah Atherton

Denbighshire based construction firm, GMC Construction, are delivering the project, utilising their extensive expertise in delivering high quality construction projects, including affordable housing, across North Wales for over 40 years.

Dylan Wyn Jones, Operations Manager at Gareth Morris Construction, said:

“We’re delighted to again be working closely with ClwydAlyn, along with all other project stakeholders, to provide much needed affordable high-quality accommodation for those who are experiencing homelessness in the Wrexham Borough. Securing this contract enables us to continue to provide employment and upskilling opportunities for the local community, including through our continued engagement of local sub-contractors and suppliers.

“Through our established and embedded Community Benefits approach, this project also enables us to continue our work with the local communities of the Wrexham Borough, to provide them with other sustainable benefits.”

Cllr David Bithell, Portfolio Holder for Housing at Wrexham County borough Council said:

“The amount of people presenting as homeless to the council has increased significantly since the start of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 and these new homes will provide much-needed modern and high-quality residential units, which in turn is going to support rehabilitation and integration into the wider community.

“It is great to see the start of works on these new homes at Holt Road. I would like to thank everyone who has worked hard to move this fantastic housing project forward.”

This scheme is part of ClwydAlyn’s development programme to deliver further 1500 new homes in North Wales by 2025 at an investment of £250m bringing the total number of homes in management to over 7,500.