Listed Hartlepool building to get new lease of life as homes

REGENERATION PROJECT: The Friarage Manor House.

A DERELICT grade II listed building on Hartlepool’s Headland is set to be transformed into affordable housing in a £4.65m regeneration programme.

Housing Hartlepool, which is part of the Thirteen Group, is spearheading the project to rescue the Friarage Manor House with support from Hartlepool Council. The scheme will support 40 jobs during the construction phase.

“For many years the Friarage has sat unoccupied, which is a real shame. It has so much potential and it’s great to finally have in place a long-term use for the building and surrounding land.”

The building will be converted into four apartments, with another 34 new-build houses and apartments planned for the surrounding area. Most of the homes will be for older people.

Work on the development, which is being done by Galliford Try Partnerships North East, has begun and is expected to be completed by May next year. Organisers of the scheme say the homes will provide an affordable option for local people looking for rented accommodation.

Officials say the Henry Smiths Educational and Non-Educational Trusts and the Council have given support, and without that the scheme could not proceed.

The regeneration project has also attracted interest from the Heritage Skills Apprenticeship Project. It gives apprentices a chance to gain experience in specialist historic building renovation.

The Manor House is on the site of a former Franciscan Friarage established in around 1240. Later it became a wing of the Friarage Hospital, which was demolished in 1987. Since then the building has been unused and has been slowly deteriorating.

Martin Hawthorne, Director of Development and Regeneration for Thirteen, the parent company of Housing Hartlepool, said: “For many years the Friarage has sat unoccupied, which is a real shame. It has so much potential and it’s great to finally have in place a long-term use for the building and surrounding land.”

Damien Wilson, Assistant Director (Regeneration) at Hartlepool Council, said: “Bringing the Friarage Manor House back into use has been a long-term regeneration priority of the Council and I am delighted that work to bring about its transformation is about to start”

Stephen McCoy, managing director with Galliford Try Partnerships North, added: “We are delighted to have been selected to work on this exciting project  which will bring an iconic building back into valuable use and also provide much needed quality housing for local people.”