A former Keswick bike shop that has been converted into four one-bedroomed flats is set to receive its first residents within the next month.
Alteration work to the building, attached to the Bell Close car park on Otley Road, was carried out by Allerdale Borough Council and Keswick Community Housing Trust (KCHT) was chosen from five other registered housing providers to allocate people to live in the properties.
“We have gone through the allocation process and got 21 applications and had to choose four people,which was very difficult,” said Bill Bewley, chair of the KCHT. “I have sat on a number of allocation groups and I found this the most distressing. It’s about choosing four people but you are knocking back 17 others.
“They are all single people that have been chosen and they happen to all be female ranging in ages from the low 20s into their 40s. They did not get more points because of their gender, we are gender neutral.”
He said that one of the new residents was living in holiday accommodation and was effectively homeless and added that all were working in Keswick and the surrounding area.
The KCHT is approaching 10 years since its first project of 11 houses at The Hopes was completed. Since then it has overseen the conversion of the toilet block at Bank Court into four, one-bedroomed apartments, bought 22 houses from Atkinson’s, which had developed Calvert Way, in conjunction with Impact Housing and been involved in building the Southey Court development of four town houses.
The trust is seeking advisors who have legal, property and building expertise to work with it on any future projects.
The annual meeting of the trust takes place at the Quaker Meeting House, Keswick, on Tuesday (April 25), starting at 7.30pm. All are welcome.
