Starter homes plan for council owned plot

WORK on building new starter homes just outside Hinckley town centre is scheduled to start by the end of March next year.

It could help first-time buyers under 40 get on the housing ladder.

The properties will be constructed on council owned land at Druid Street - an area the authority had identified for potential new social housing built by its own arms-length company.

A grant of more than £11,600 was obtained from the Government’s Starter Homes Local Authority Funding Programme which aims to support schemes contributing towards the target of 200,000 starter homes over the course of this parliament.

The programme stipulates the dwellings must be offered exclusively to first-time buy- ers aged under 40 with a discount of 20% on market values.

The money was used for site investigations and surveys on brownfield land as well as the appraisal of the 874 sq m Druid Street site for council-backed building.

However, it was deemed uneconomical to undertake the Druid Street project as both developer and landlord and councillors agreed to declare the land surplus and market it for sale.

According to an update on the issue given to councillors at the most recent scrutiny commission meeting a developer has to be in place and planning permission secured by March 31 2017 to comply with the terms of the funding agreement.

A start of the site of the starter homes is then required by March 31 2018 to enable completion by March 31 2019.