Derbyshire Dales Planning Committee, 3 December 2019

Our December 2019 Planning Committee meeting includes an application to upgrade some "non-traditional" properties on Matlock's Hurst Farm Estate.

The application - from the District Council's Head of Housing - is part of the Hurst Farm Regeneration Project, where we are working with residents and partner agencies to provide wide ranging improvements on the estate.

The non-traditional homes were built in the aftermath of World War II at a time when materials and labour were in short supply, meaning these system-built homes have inherent defects.

Although many have been upgraded over the years, 43 non-traditional homes remain on Hurst Farm, all in private ownership, with the majority owner occupied and some owned by private landlords.

The application to be heard by councillors on Tuesday is to provide at a cost of £10,000 per property an additional external skin to a dozen homes to improve the physical appearance and dramatically improve the thermal comfort.

The report to the meeting states that this initial phase will hopefully lead to further phases in future years and that the District Council's Community Housing Team is continuing to search for external funding sources that could be used to improve the remaining properties.