Building to begin as council forms development company
Plans to build up to 340 homes in next five years
BUILDING work will begin later this year after West Lancashire Borough Council officially formed its own development company.
The council approved the formation of Tawd Valley Developments Ltd last week and expects to build up to 340 homes over the next five years.
Plans to create the development company have been ongoing for around two years and were made possible after a successful for £780,000 government funding for the initial costs.
Longer term, the company is likely to expand into building industrial sites within the borough, while informal discussions have already been held with neighbouring local authorities which have approached West Lancs about building in their towns.
It will also build much needed affordable rented homes which will be retained by the council.
Tawd Valley Developments is already working on plans to build 77 good quality homes in Skelmersdale in the next 12 months, including 48 to be retained by the Council for social housing.
A maximum spend of £11m has been budgeted for the next five year, funded via loans through the council, and it is anticipated that a profit of around £1m will be generated. With the council the only shareholder in the firm, no individual or business will make money from the venture, with profits instead put back into the authority’s budgets.
As well as generating income at a time when local authorities continue to battle huge funding cuts from central government, one aim of setting up the company is to ensure that future developments are controlled locally rather than by private, profitseeking firms and, as one council official told the Advertiser, to “build the right type of houses in the right places”.
According to the council, the new homes will be “delivered for local people” building on recent successful major projects for housing such as the current Walmsley Drive development in Ormskirk.
Cllr Jenny Forshaw, portfolio holder for Housing and Landlord Services, said: “A key role of Tawd Valley Developments Limited will be to facilitate the building of much needed new affordable housing in West Lancashire. This will benefit people across the Borough.”
Cllr Ian Moran, Leader of West Lancashire Borough Council and portfolio holder for Economic Regeneration, said: “One of the Council’s top priorities is to deliver tangible improvements for the local economy by developing commercial and residential property.
“This would help support new and growing businesses, retain and grow jobs and increase the number of residents in the area. Tawd Valley Developments Limited will help the Council achieve that and generate income for West Lancashire including through Council Tax and Business Rates to support frontline services and more exciting projects.”
Recruitment is ongoing for four non-paid directors to sit on the board of the new company and the first building work is expected to commence in Autumn this year. As part of its plans, has also set up a ring-fenced fund for purchasing land for new projects and is expected to continue buying properties as it did with Wheatsheaf Walk in Ormskirk, which is currently generating a profit.