A £1.5 million refurbishment has been completed at a Mansfield complex providing 34 temporary homes for people facing homelessness.
Mansfield District Council said every self-contained flat and the building’s communal areas had been refurbished, with new kitchens and bathrooms, redecoration and new furniture.
The work also included a larger, secure outdoor children’s play area, which residents had requested. Around 50 children can be living at the complex at any one time.
New play equipment has been installed indoors and outdoors, while a separate wellbeing garden has been created for single adults.
Inside, the communal day room has been upgraded with a new kitchen and a small play area. The space will allow the council to offer more group ‘cook and eat’ sessions for residents and their families, supported by its health and wellbeing team.
The refurbishment was funded through the council’s Housing Revenue Account capital works budget.
Cllr Ann Callaghan, Portfolio Holder for Housing, attended the reopening ceremony.
She said: “When people are facing homelessness, it is a distressing time in their lives, and coming to temporary accommodation can be, for many, a scary situation.
“Now it is a warm, bright and welcoming place. The very fact that some residents and their families don’t want to leave demonstrates how much has been achieved here and how hard the team work to make sure everyone is as comfortable as possible.
“The accommodation we can now provide for people facing homelessness has been hugely improved. It is so much better suited to their needs, especially for those with children, who now have a larger secure space to play and let off steam. I would like to thank the tenants for their patience and understanding during what was a challenging process.”
The refurbishment follows the selection of the council’s temporary accommodation service for a national pilot aimed at improving support for people living in temporary homes.
Mansfield District Council is leading the project on behalf of seven housing authorities in Nottinghamshire, testing approaches to helping families in different types of temporary accommodation.
The council secured £128,000 through a selection process involving 58 applicants to the Justlife Foundation, a national charity working to improve the lives of people in temporary accommodation and find long-term solutions to homelessness.
The charity hopes the pilot will help improve how housing authorities across the country use temporary accommodation and support the people living in it.
