The ambitious £5million refurbishment of high-rise Kingsway House in Warrington has been progressing well since work started on site in March 2022, with this month seeing residents choosing their new kitchens for their fully renovated apartments.

Works to the nine-story 51-apartment building will see the 1960s block get a full make-over, with parking increasing from 10 to 40 spaces, two new apartments created from the current storage area, improved insulation, asbestos removal, new windows, kitchens, bathrooms, front doors, lifts and balconies, as well a suite of enhanced safety features, landscaping and improvements to the entrance, exterior the communal areas.

Margaret Goddard, Torus Group Assets Director, said:

“At Torus we are all about our customers and improving their lives and it was great to see the residents getting involved and choosing their new kitchens for their homes, it is an exciting milestone for the project.

“This investment and making their homes fit for the future demonstrates our commitment to investing in our existing homes and our customers.

“When finished, Kingsway will be a modern block that will not only look great, but will also reduce harmful carbon emissions, whilst benefiting the residents by improving energy efficiency, reducing fuel usage bills and making their homes warmer, which is even more important now, with the cost-of-living crisis and increasing energy bills.”

Due to the improvements being made at Kingsway House, the project was successful in securing £320,00 in grant funding from the government’s Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF). Torus are also working closely with Cheshire Fire & Rescue and have secured a further £38,000 funding towards the new sprinkler system in the building.

Talking about the project, Ste Simm, Torus Assets Project Manager, commented:

“We are really pleased to have secured the funding and with the progress of the project, for which the tenants have been supportive.

“We are currently undertaking the necessary assessments to satisfy the funder and accessing further grant funding.

“Our contractor, HMS has now appointed the External Wall Insulation and Mechanical & Electrical contractors, to carry out the works, thanks to the £360,000 in grant funding we have received.

“We have also smashed our target for using 50% local labour, which to date has been 100% achieved.

“Plus, the site had a Health & Safety inspection in July and scored 99%, which is a testament to the excellent job being done by the site team.”

The SHDF projects complement 40,000-home Torus’ wider environmental sustainability strategy that will play a key role in helping Warrington Borough Council (WBC) and Liverpool City Region achieve net zero by 2030 and 2040 respectively. As well as contributing to the aims of WBC’s Central 6 masterplan, contributing to achieving a cleaner, greener, healthier Warrington.

Once completed, the properties will surpass an Energy Performance Certificate C rating with evaluations carried out by Torus to assess the energy efficiency of the work on fuel bills and the impact on tenants.

Ste, continued:

“We understand that the works have caused disruption to the residents, but we are doing everything we can to ensure they are as unobtrusive as possible. We are meeting with the regularly and offering monthly drop-in sessions with Assets, Housing and HMS to discuss the works, advise them of upcoming works and listen to any issues they may be having.”

Work, which is being carried out by experienced construction firm, HMS, are due to be completed autumn/winter 2023. Discussing the organisations latest large-scale refurbishment project, HMS’ Managing Director, Paul Worthington, said:

“We are thrilled to be completing works at Kingsway House and taking a lead on creating modern, more sustainable, and ultimately affordable homes for the people of Warrington. This is one of the largest refurbishment projects we have undertaken and by actively collaborating with the community and future residents, we already know what a difference it will make, so I am excited to see how the progress continues to positively impact the local area.”

The SHDF is overseen by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and is a £3.8 billion government commitment over a 10-year period to improve the energy performance of socially rented homes.