We have extended an accommodation block for nurses and other short-stay workers in Carlisle to meet growing demand.
Work at Tun House in the Old Brewery at Caldewgate has increased its capacity from nearly 60 people to around 80. We were responding to pressures on accommodation in the city.
“We bought the old university halls of residence, known as the Old Brewery, just over two years ago. It was derelict and had been unused since 2015/16,” said Les Humes, lettings manager.
“What we’ve done is renovate certain parts and we’re using it to house both agency nurses for the Cumberland Infirmary and international nurses who have been recruited to work at the infirmary as well.
“The demand for accommodation for nurses and people in the care community has increased massively in Carlisle.
“So we’ve renovated three more flats has given us another 14 rooms available to accommodate people.”
Hannah Cook is senior business support for the Medical Staffing recruitment agency which places nurses and other health professionals around the country.
She has visited Tun House and says it is up there with the best accommodation available.
“Very clean, very new. [It’s good because of] how easy it is to find, how close it is to the hospital for the nurses, close by local shops, supermarkets, buses, trains.
“They’ve got living areas for each flat where you’ve got all the kitchen appliances that you need. Everything that they need really is there.”
We were the only landlord they dealt with in Cumbria, she added.
“All nurses are more than happy to go there and stay there. The nurses are all like a big family community which is very nice to see.
“I’m pretty sure if something was to break or if there was a fault with anything, it will be done within the day, even if Les himself has to go out.”
Les said that with many contractors working on Carlisle’s southern bypass and university development there was likely to be even greater demand for accommodation in future but for now they were just meeting the immediate need.
“We’re hoping that for us it turns into more of a long-term thing. We offer nice, pleasant accommodation at a fair price.”
