Fifty-eight new modular hostel apartments have finally been installed on a former High Wycombe car park.

The first apartments, which were fully fitted out off-site, arrived at the beginning of December on the site of the former Desborough Road car park and all have now been hoisted into place.

The new building – which will be a bigger and more modern replacement for the “isolated” Saunderton Lodge hostel along the busy A4010 – will temporarily house vulnerable families who find themselves homeless.

Each of the one-bed apartments have shower rooms and kitchens and have been stacked on top of each other to form a three and five-storey building.

The new hostel has lifts and staircases in the two towers that have been installed.

The controversial project was tipped to cost £7.5 million by the council, but Premier Modular – the company that constructed each of the apartments at their factory in East Yorkshire – now says that cost is £9 million.

The whole build is expected to be finished in the summer and will be decorated in terracotta, slate grey and off-white.

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Cllr John Chilver, Cabinet Member for Property and Assets at Buckinghamshire Council, said, “We visited the site after the first few modules had been installed. It was exciting to see the progress and view the inside of one of the attractive and well-designed apartments.

“As a council, we are committed to exploring modern methods of construction and more innovative ways of delivering new housing. The use of an offsite solution for this scheme has radically reduced time on site, meaning far less disruption locally during the build programme, and the high standard of workmanship we saw on site.”

Plans to replace Saunderton Lodge, which is over 90 years old and has 35 bedsit rooms in a somewhat remote location off the A4010 between West Wycombe and Princes Risborough, were first mentioned back in 2017.

It was revealed that year that completely overhauling the ageing building was the preferred option but “spiralling” costs of doing so meant the then-Wycombe District Council was forced to look at other locations for temporary accommodation.

They settled on the Desborough Road car park site despite some fears from councillors that the area was not right due to anti-social behaviour, drugs and prostitution.

It is not clear yet what will happen to Saunderton Lodge when the new town centre hostel is fully operational after the summer.