The programme is designed to accelerate the delivery of affordable homes via government funding
Homes England has chosen the City of Wolverhampton Council as the first local authority in the country to pilot the delivery of a new affordable homes programme aimed at accelerating the delivery of new council homes.
The scheme will provide access to a government funding portfolio of almost £20m.
Wolverhampton will use the fund to start work on delivering 200 homes across 11 sites in the city over the next two years. One of the sites is the Lincoln Green Estate (pictured), where the scheme will be used to replace 75 year-old prefabricated bungalows which Wolverhampton Council said in January had “exceeded their lifespan”.
The proposed homes will be a mixture of one, two, three and four-bedroom houses, flats and bungalows for affordable and social rent. It will also include 67 bungalows.
The homes will be built on new council sites and where existing council homes have poor thermal efficiency and are of poor quality or non-traditional construction.
City of Wolverhampton Council deputy leader and cabinet member for city housing, Cllr Steve Evans, said: “This additional financial certainty will allow us to accelerate the future delivery of affordable housing provision in the city.
“One of our key priorities is to build new and better homes for local people in well connected neighbourhoods across the city.
“This pilot will deliver new homes that will mean residents and the wider community benefit from improved health outcomes, lifestyle and sustainability.”
Shahi Islam, director of affordable housing grants at Homes England, added: “As the Government’s housing and regeneration agency, increasing the supply of quality affordable homes remains one of our key objectives.
”We’re committed to supporting Wolverhampton City Council to achieve their ambitions through this innovative pilot scheme ahead of the new affordable homes programme.
“This new way of working is another example of how the agency works collaboratively with local authorities to achieve our mission to build much needed new communities that people can be proud to call home.’
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