Demolition work is starting next week on a block of 30 maisonettes and flats as part of a £4.3 million makeover at a 1970s housing estate.
Housing association Cartrefi Conwy will be replacing the properties at the Glanrafon Estate in Llanrwst with 14 zero carbon modular homes.
Six nearby blocks of 30 apartments are also undergoing major improvements to give them a brand new modern look.
Work to improve the apartments is already underway and the organisation is now knocking down the block of maisonettes and flats to build much needed three and four bedroom family homes.
The pioneering project will create jobs and work experience for tenants in the process.
The timber frames will be manufactured by Cartrefi Conwy’s subsidiary, Creating Enterprise, at their factory in Holyhead before the modular properties are erected on site.
The factory employs four carpenters and will provide jobs for four more local people who are currently unemployed, as well as providing work experience for 50 others who are struggling to find jobs.
High performance insulation will be used to make the homes completely draught free, cutting heat loss to create a home with minimal environmental impact and saving residents up to 90 per cent in annual energy costs.
Owain Roberts, assistant Director of Assets and Tenant Safety at Cartrefi Conwy, said: “The original maisonettes were designed in 1968 and built in the were no longer fit for purpose.
"The remaining six blocks of apartments are undergoing a huge £1.8 million improvement programme which includes re-roofing them and adding render and insulation to the outside walls.
“All the windows are being replaced and some of them have been redesigned, whilst the staircases are being enclosed and a new secure door entry system added.
Cartrefi Conwy Chief Executive Andrew Bowden said: “When the Glanrafon estate was designed in the late 1960s, they provided what was then state-of-the-art accommodation to meet the housing needs of the local community at that time.
“We have invested more than £4 million to reconfigure and improve the estate so that it meets the needs and expectations of our tenants today and into the future.
“The six blocks of apartments will be unrecognisable as they are being transformed into attractive, high quality, well-insulated homes.
“Meanwhile, if we are successful in gaining planning permission, we will be investing £2.5 million in building the 14 modular properties which will provide much-needed three and four bedroom family homes.”
