City of Wolverhampton Council has appointed contractor Morro Partnerships Limited to build the new ‘A’ Rated, gas-free homes with solar panels, at the ‘Magic Gardens’ site off Sandmere Rise.

The council’s housing development team is leading the project, and all the bungalows will be available for affordable rent, with construction expected to be complete by spring 2025.

The eight bungalows form part of the latest phase of new council homes coming forward across the city, with development works underway or set to start in the coming months on 81 properties across six sites.

‘Magic Gardens’ was historically used for organised recreational community activities but has been unused since around 2011.

Morro Partnerships has adopted sustainable building methods at the development, consistent with its pipeline of affordable homes under construction, as part of its commitment to being better environment and better community makers.

The development will be supported by a £600,000 grant from Homes England.

Councillor Steve Evans, the council’s Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Housing, said: “One of our key priorities is to increase the number of good homes in well-connected neighbourhoods across the city.

“It is great to see work underway on the development at ‘Magic Gardens’, which will provide much-needed bungalows as part of our council homes portfolio.

“It is also another example of the council’s brownfield land-first strategy bringing small disused sites back into use for the benefit of our residents and communities.

“Sustainability in build and fostering thriving communities is important to us, so our collaboration with Morro Partnerships assures both us and our future residents that their homes are future-proofed in a great location.”

Chris Timmins, Managing Director at Morro Partnerships, said: “We’re delighted to have commenced work on the Magic Gardens development

which will help to meet the demand for much-needed affordable bungalows in the Wolverhampton area.

“It’s great to be working with City of Wolverhampton Council towards our shared goal of meeting this demand in a sustainable manner while ensuring our communities are great places to live.

“This is an important project for Morro, which typifies out commitment towards cultivating excellent, vibrant communities, and we look forward to seeing the impact it has across the local area.”