Revamp sees homes soar 158%

The price of homes on a Telford estate has rocketed by 158 per cent over the last five years despite a downturn in the housing market.

Average property values on the Woodside estate have not only shot up but, in parts where communal areas have been revamped, individual rises have been as high as 188 per cent.

Economic development company Transforming Telford, which is heading a 10-year revitalisation programme on the estate, has welcomed the results which were revealed in a report to the Woodside Regeneration Partnership.

The partnership includes representatives from Telford & Wrekin Council, English Partnerships, Advantage West Midlands, the Government Office for the West Midlands, the Housing Corporation, Wrekin Housing Trust and two Woodside residents.

Transforming Telford regeneration manager, Will Schofield, said price rises between 2002 and 2007 ranged from 125 to 188 per cent, with an average increase of 158 per cent.

He said: "We are really pleased that the project is doing its job to not only improve the area with physical change but also to improve perceptions, with people now seeing Woodside as an affordable, decent place to live."

There has also been more demand by applicants on Wrekin Housing Trust's choice based letting scheme, called Choose Your Home.

Kylie Anderson, Choose Your Home operational manager, said that, since the scheme began in December 2006, homes in the Woodside area had received an average of 103 choices per home advertised.