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Green light for over 2,000 council homes to be built
Published: 2009-09-11 08:57:45
Housing Minister John Healey has today given the green light for work to start on building over 2,000 new council homes that will help create over 5,000 jobs in the construction industry. (Sourced from Building and Engineer.)
Forty seven councils, covering every region of the country, will receive a share of £127m Government funding to help build these homes, in what will be the biggest council house building programme for almost two decades. They will match funding bringing total investment to over £250m.
Today's funding comes on top of the funding announced in July to get building work on hundreds of stalled housing developments back on track. A total of 51 councils submitted bids. Bids from four councils were considered not to represent value for money and the Minister has asked the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) to work with these councils to strengthen their bids for consideration later this month or for resubmitting bids in round two.
Successful first wave projects announced today include:
•Eight family homes will be built on a derelict site in Nottingham's Clifton estate. The Widecombe Lane site will boost local employment and give ten local apprentices on site training for their NVQ qualifications.
•36 new homes will be built on Wood Street in Rotherham as the first stage of regeneration for the wider Dalton area.
•Ealing will build homes for 277 people, with a focus on larger family homes. Seven large family houses will also be built on Thorpe Close in Croydon, on a site which previously suffered from fly tipping and vandalism.
•A total of 28 new homes will be built in Durham and a total of 61 new homes for elderly residents will be built in Gateshead.
•101 high quality family homes will be built in Salford.
•The Lambourne Road scheme in Oxford will deliver 38 new affordable homes for 146 people, including many larger homes to meet the demand for family housing in the city.
•129 homes for rent will be built at four sites across Birmingham to provide a range of family accommodation.
Construction work is set to start on the first sites before the end of the year. Healey will then announce a second wave of projects in the autumn.