Bringing house back to life

May 1 2009 by Chris Knox, The Journal

BUILDING work has begun on a rundown Victorian terraced house in Gateshead as part of a project to bring many more long empty properties back to life.

Seaham-based building contractors St. Astiers, which is behind the build, has been set a difficult challenge in bringing the three-storey mid-terraced house on Durham Road up to modern standards, as after it has stood empty and neglected for nearly a decade.

The team also has to make sure that the property retains its outward appearance and character.

As well as a new roof with more than 400mm thickness of insulation, the property will benefit from new A-rated thermally efficient PVCu windows, new insulated ground floors and heavily insulated internal walls to minimise heat loss.

The build is part of the Government’s Housing Market Renewal (HMR) pathfinder, which has also set out to assess the most efficient ways of improving the thermal values of hard to treat Victorian an Edwardian properties.

Work on the property is scheduled for completion in May and is one of a number of similarly vacant problem properties in the Bensham and Saltwell areas.

If the refurbishment project is successful, the materials and techniques used will be included in further schemes to bring empty homes back into use.

St. Astier managing director Ranson Og said: “We have had to completely strip out the house and start again from scratch on an empty shell. Gateshead Council's target for the finished house is for super energy efficiency.”