Borough council grants permission to build 'much needed' social housing for families in Northampton

The properties will include, 14 three-bedroom homes, two four-bedroom homes, nine one-bedroom apartments and nine two-bed maisonettes in Little Cross Street.

Builders, Wilmott Dixon alongside Northampton Partnership Homes aim to also improve existing homes in the area by replacing new windows, doors, roofing repairs and balconies in social-housing blocks .

Workers from Northampton Partnership Homes carried out a series of door-knocks to gather feedback from residents and one of the improvements residents suggested, as reported by this newspaper earlier this week, was an outdoor gym.

The gym equipment will be fitted in the green corridor between St Peters House and Doddridge House.

A spokesperson for Northampton Partnership Homes said: "When talking to residents in this area via door knocking and survey invitations, we discovered that there were not enough activities to do in the area and that gym equipment came out from this feedback as beneficial.

"We hope to continue to provide more things to do outdoors, as many of the residents in the area live in blocks of flats and have said there is not enough to do locally.

"The social value for gym equipment is really important. By providing this we hope to give residents the opportunity to exercise and live healthy lifestyles without spending lots of money."