Government will this week issue a tender for the sale and refurbishment of the Old Married Quarters site at 4 Castle Road, a Pre-war building that is made up of 10 flats.

This site previously formed of the Government’s rental housing stock but has been managed by the Housing Department and the department has been working on relocating existing tenants in order to decant this area to enable its regeneration.

Government have said this forms part of its ambitious urban renewal scheme which entails the release of pre-war properties for sale as these are no longer cost effective to maintain as rental stock. Their release is co-ordinated so as to enable tenders in clusters.

There have already been recent successful regeneration projects in the area such as the Police Barracks building which now provides dwellings as part of The Arches development and it is envisaged that this tender will provide such opportunities, albeit on a smaller scale.

The Deputy Chief Minster, Dr Joseph Garcia said, “This is an impressive site that was ripe for regeneration. Whereas a lot of our upper town was allowed to fall into disrepair for many years, we have seen a lot of regeneration of the upper town as result of this Government’s co-ordinated approach to urban renewal, this is especially good as many of these properties continue to provide housing once sold."

The Minster for Housing, Samantha Sacramento said “The Ministry for Housing forms a vital role in the urban renewal scheme. The Government’s pre-war rental housing stock is difficult to maintain. Previously, such dwellings were left to lie empty, but now the Housing Department proactively identify such properties, and co-ordinate their sale at tender through Land Property Services Limited. Where some flats within a tenement may still be occupied, arrangements are made for tenants to reaccomodated. Many of these tenants living in the upper town were elderly tenants so they have benefitted enormously from this process."