Council firm to build thousands of homes
TOWN HALL AIMS TO BOOST DELIVERY OF AFFORDABLE ACCOMMODATION AND CONTROL RENT LEVELS
A NEW council-run house building company will be established in Manchester in a bid to boost the delivery of affordable homes.
The town hall is aiming to build 32,000 new houses by 2025, including 6,400 affordable homes – but leaders admitted coronavirus would create uncertainty.
By creating this company, the council will be able to control and set rent levels to better meet the needs of those on housing benefits.
All of the houses that would be built through the company would be exempt from right to buy.
It is estimated that it could deliver around 1,800 new affordable homes, along with more than 1,000 homes for market sale and rent.
Coun Suzanne Richards, executive member for housing and regeneration, said: “Creating our own housing development company means we can take a far more proactive role in affordable housing delivery across the city. We will continue to work closely with our Registered Social Landlords (RSL) to deliver new homes across the city, but it’s important that we consider every option open to us to ensure new affordable homes are built as quickly as possible.”
Greater control will also be given to city planners to directly deliver affordable housing alongside RSLs, instead of bringing in third parties.
The council will also allow these providers, which have greater access to funding than local authorities, to build on their land. Plans are already in place for vacant council-owned land on Oldham Road to be sold to housing association One Manchester to allow for 139 affordable apartments to be built.
The housing company proposals were signed off by the council’s executive on Wednesday, though the number of people in attendance was kept to a minimum because of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Speaking at the meeting, Coun Richards said: “[The company] will ensure hopefully, as it will be unknown yet the impact on the market of the current crisis, that we will be able to continue the delivery of affordable housing in the year ahead.”
So far the council has managed to build 3,173 new homes in 2019/20, with 283 being affordable.
Since 2015/16, 1,327 affordable homes have been built.
Coun John Leech, leader of the Liberal Democrat opposition, said the group ‘absolutely supported’ the Labour administration’s plan.