From eyesore house to eye-catching flats
These pictures show the transformation of a vandal-hit house which has been turned into new apartments after causing an eyesore for years.
The house on Myvod Road in Wednesbury has been redeveloped following years of vandalism, anti-social behaviour problems and disrepair which had pushed residents to the end of their tether.
It has now been given a new lease of life after a project was carried out by property developers Gill Properties and Sandwell Council. Planning officers at the authority used a combination of negotiation and enforcement actions to ensure that the previous owner took steps to sell the property so that it could be redeveloped and put back in to use.
Rajinder Gill and Davinder Gill of Gill Properties took on the job of converting the house after they approached the local authority to buy the property during August 2012.
They spent months working on the site bringing it up to scratch so that it could be brought back into use.
Advice on the building work was provided by Sandwell Council's building control team and Orchard Court was officially opened at during an open day that was held earlier this month.
Rajinder Gill said: "The property was such an eyesore when we purchased it. However all the hard work has now paid off and the property does now look really fantastic.
"This has been a great project to work on and we thank the local people for putting up with the building works and Sandwell Council for all their assistance during the project." Wednesbury town lead member Councillor Elaine Costigan said she was pleased to see the site looking respectable again. "The neighbours have put up with this eyesore property for years and all parties involved are happy with this fantastic transformation of the building," she said.
The borough's cabinet member for jobs and economy, Councillor Ian Jones, said the finished building added to the local neighbourhood and was important to the improving the Wednesbury area.
"This all ties in with the aspirations to improve Wednesbury as a whole, along with projects in the pipeline such as the Opus Blueprint at Junction 9 and the LoneStar factory being built nearby, both bringing jobs to the area," he added.
