Derelict £2k council home turned into artist flats
Creative FactoryA derelict house sold for £2,000 by a council has been renovated as part of a project to support artists.
Middlesbrough Council said the property on Princes Road in Gresham was the cheapest sale of a council asset in years.
Non-profit Creative Factory has turned it into two one-bedroom apartments to rent out at what it said were affordable prices to artists who want to work on projects that benefit the community.
A spokesman for the Labour-led council said the authority wanted to encourage "more high quality developments" in the town centre.
"Transforming derelict properties into homes supporting our thriving cultural sector is a massive positive for the town," the spokesman said.
The property was acquired by the council as part of the Gresham Regeneration Project, but plans were scaled back when funding was withdrawn by government.
It was subsequently leased out but had fallen into serious disrepair, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
Daniel Hodgson/LDRSThe project by Creative Factory includes plans turning the former H Samuel jewellers on Linthorpe Road into an art gallery by September, to coincide with the Turner Prize coming to Middlesbrough.
The organisation's director Anna Byrne said she hoped the plans would help creative people to thrive in Middlesbrough.
"We've got amazing creatives in our region. Rather than them going elsewhere, we want to make sure they have the space and support they need to grow in our town."
She said they were hoping to increase the number of properties for creatives in the area.
"Once you put artists in a little group together, they can't help but start creating things," Byrne said.
