YMCA Cheltenham is to open new accommodation in Gloucester thanks to a £590,000 grant from the Homes and Communities Agency, after it was forced to close its old site back in 2006.

Work will start on 16 new homes in St. Michael’s Square in the city centre which will provide affordable housing for young people aged 16 to 25.

The grant comes as part of the £41m second round of the Empty Homes scheme, which has been set up to deliver more than 19,000 new residences across the country through various nationwide projects.

The old YMCA site in Gloucester, on Sebert Street on the outskirts of the city, needed extensive maintenance work which the charity could no longer afford and so had to close.

David Wallace, chief executive of YMCA Cheltenham, expressed his delight to civilsociety.co.uk at receiving the grant, and said that the new development will help tackle a high demand.

“Young people are suffering more from family break-ups,” he said. “We want to catch them before there is a chance of other problems developing.”

YMCA Cheltenham were promised an additional £300,000 from Gloucester City Council if the charity could receive funding from elsewhere to return a YMCA presence to the city, and a spokeswoman from the council confirmed to civilsociety.co.uk that this would go ahead.

“Our cash commitment is to show we understand the pressing need for accommodation for younger people in the area,” she said.

Full details of Empty Homes Round Two are available on the Homes and Communities Agency’s website here.