The site of a former nursing home in Newtownabbey is set to be transformed into a new housing development.

Developer Radius Housing has put forward plans to build 20 new homes on the old Moylinney House site. Antrim & Newtownabbey Borough Council will review the proposal.

The project, which incorporates 14 apartments for over 55 'active elderly' people as well as 6 two-bedroom family homes, is the first of its kind in Northern Ireland. It has been designed in line with the Housing Ageing Population Panel for Innovation (HAPPI) Principles which focus on designing high-quality housing catering for the needs of older person's as their circumstances change.

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Project architects Hall Black Douglas Architects have embedded the 10 key design criteria of the HAPPI Principles within the new build scheme, which include emphasis on high-quality open space provision, the addition of balconies for enhanced private amenity space, increased internal storage space and other shared 'hub' facilities.

Anita Conway Radius, Director of Development at Radius Housing, said: "We are delighted to be taking forward this bespoke development scheme which will challenge the perception of active elderly accommodation and create a new way of providing housing for older people in Northern Ireland. Alongside our design team we have been working closely with the Department for Communities over the last 12 months to develop a high quality residential development that will set a new standard and benchmark for the development of future schemes with housing for older people."

If planning permission is granted, work on site will commence in spring 2020, with a completion date scheduled for autumn 2021.

(CM/JG)