A TOWN centre housing estate that has been transformed by a £2 million redevelopment project has attracted the interest of Swedish developers.

Riksbyggen, a company that constructs new homes and manages properties across Sweden, paid a visit to the St Thomas' Estate to see if the ongoing regeneration work there could influence their projects.

The firm, who are responsible for a tenth of housing built in Sweden, were particularly interested in seeing how new the external works have helped resolve brick spalling in homes, one of the many issues raised when the Radcliffe Times first reported on the dilapidated state of the area in 2014.

At the time, tenants called for the homes to be condemned because their living conditions were so bad.

However, the estate received a £2m investment boost from Bury Council in 2015 to provide 90 social housing properties with new external rendering, and the project was recently shortlisted for Best Regeneration Scheme at the Housing Excellence Awards 2016.

Emma Richman, Director of Assets at Six Town Housing, said: "Our international visitors showed great interest in St Thomas, asking lots of questions of why the properties received the works and how the scheme has been undertaken, to see if similar regeneration projects could be managed the same way in Sweden."

The group were split into two coaches and shown around the estate by staff from Six Town Housing and contractors, A Connolly.

Christian Bengtzelius, compound coordinator at Riksbyggen, said: "We are very pleased to have seen the project in Radcliffe. It was a valuable experience to see how your social housing stock is renovated and maintained - we learned that you work with different materials than we do in Sweden."

Cllr Sandra Walmsley, cabinet member for strategic housing and support services, added: "Bury Council has long been committed to improving our housing for the benefit of our tenants. For each of the last three years, we have spent or committed more than £12 million on capital works, and a further £12 million to bring our housing stock to a 'Bury Standard', which is above the regular 'decent homes' standard.

"A wide variety of work has been carried out, from new kitchens and bathrooms to re-roofing programmes, and I am glad to see that this investment is appreciated, both locally and, it would seem, abroad."

The group also visited a show room in Radcliffe set up by Six Town Housing to show tenants how to operate new, efficient smart energy systems that use air source heating technology.