Progress of Rhyl development on site of homes immortalised by Lowry

The Edward Henry Street scheme, led by housing association ClwydAlyn, will see 13 three-bedroom, affordable, energy efficient houses built, replacing 33 now-demolished flats.

In doing so, the houses which formed a 1929 sketch by the artist, LS Lowry, will be replaced.

A £3.89million project, it is due to be completed by April 2024.

Yesterday (August 10), the Journal was invited on a site visit by ClwydAlyn to see how the new homes are developing and the advantages they will bring.

Development works at the Edward Henry Street site (Image: Newsquest)

Rhyl-based firm, NWPS Construction LTD, is delivering the construction work, having worked with ClwydAlyn previously on numerous successful projects.

All of the properties’ heating and energy will come from air source heat pumps and solar panels, while all their timber-framed structure and high insulation levels will add to their energy efficiency.

There will be 40m² of garden space for each house, as well as a patio and an outdoor storage area.

The area of the site which will become garden and car parking space (Image: Newsquest)

Each property will have its own car parking space and electric vehicle charging point, while some will also include exterior bird spikes to deter seagulls.

Car parking space for visitors will also be available.

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Craig Sparrow, executive director of development at ClwydAlyn, said there was little alternative to demolishing the old flats, and that renovating them was not viable.

This, he said, would have involved “ploughing more money into buildings which were substandard structures in the first place”.

He added: “They were beyond repair. They were damp and cold, and had ‘undercrofts’ (cellars/storage rooms) under them, and when the tide comes in, it comes in underground here.

“You couldn’t have hit the sort of standards that Welsh Government want us to hit (by keeping the old buildings).

Projected images of what the new development will look like. (Image: ClwydAlyn)

“We had a few people left (living in the now-demolished flats), but in the end, it was almost impossible to let those flats. Some people moved on to other accommodation, but nobody was evicted.

“We’ve got a bit to go yet – another block (of houses) has still got to go up on the end.”

Outside some of the new Edward Henry Street homes (Image: Newsquest)

ClwydAlyn already owned the entirety of the side of Edward Henry Street on which the new homes are being built.

It is estimated that tenants will have to pay approximately £450 per month to rent one of the new homes.

The houses are due to be available on both social and intermediate rents.

There will no ground-floor bedrooms, to further enhance tenants’ protection against potential flooding.

Projected images of what the new development will look like. (Image: ClwydAlyn)

Of the 13 new three-storey homes, five fall into Rhyl’s “conservation area”, so will look the same as the flats whose place they have taken, in order to preserve the area’s rich heritage.

Those within the conservation area will be yellow in colour, while the eight houses outside it will be red, and have slightly different tiling.

There will also be a slight difference to the interior layout of houses within the conservation area compared to other eight homes.

In one of the new houses which the Journal was invited into, the first floor consisted of a “wet room”, kitchen and dining area; the second comprised a lounge and bedroom; and the third two bedrooms, a bathroom, and the air source heat pump.

Inside one of the new Edward Henry Street homes (Image: Newsquest)

Bryn Williams, site manager, said: “There’s a lot going in these properties; solar panels, air source heat pumps… they’re very energy efficient.

“We could build properties for cheaper than these, but we chose not to, to prioritise energy efficiency.

Solar panels on top of the new homes (Image: Newsquest)

“We’ve found that NWPS’ work has been really high quality; they’re very confined in the town centre environment that they’ve had to work in, and they’ve managed the scheme really well.

“One of the challenges we’ve had with the scheme is that five of the new properties are within the conservation area, so we’ve had to build those houses ‘like-for-like’.

“We had to do really detailed photo-surveys of the old flats there, and then NWPS had to then go and search for ‘like-for-like’ products, to go and rebuild it.

“We’ve moved the new properties back, as well, which will then widen the street.”

Development works at the Edward Henry Street site (Image: Newsquest)

The new homes are part of the Targeted Regeneration Investment Programme (TRIP) Scheme for the redevelopment of the west end of Rhyl.

This scheme is part of ClwydAlyn's development programme to deliver further 1,500 new homes in North Wales by 2025 at an investment of £250m, bringing the total number of homes in management to more than 7,500.