Council may borrow £35m to fund homes and jobs
Councillors are considering borrowing around £35m to fund ambitious homes and jobs plans in Brighouse.
Calderdale Council’s cabinet will consider proposals for £52.4m of funding officers believe will be necessary to ensure the infrastructure around Brighouse and south east Calderdale is in place.
Roads, schools and community centres will be essential to maximise the potential of two garden communities. These total around 3,000 new homes, the proposed Clifton Business Park and A641 corridor improvements on the route linking Bradford to Kirklees via Brighouse, the senior councillors are told.
It is envisaged the £52.4m will be funded partly by roof tariffs on new homes built. The council can enforce these by legal agreements with housebuilders, which it is estimated will raise around £17.4m.
But the council will need to borrow £34.9m, paid back over an estimated 18-year period.
Alternatives, including all of the critical infrastructure being funded by housebuilders and private landowners, have been assessed and ruled out.
This is because the consequential reduction in residual land value would be below that at which it is reasonable to expect a willing landowner to sell.
This would result in allocated land not coming forward for development of new homes, and consequential reduction in profit margins being below that recognised as “reasonable”inhousingviability appraisals.
Much of the garden community land is in private hands.
With infrastructure benefitingmultiplesitesthroughoutsoutheastCalderdale,only thecouncilcanspreadthecost equitablyacrossthemall,says the report.
Takentogether,aproposed gross investment programme of around £201.5m over the next decade by the council and other public sector partners – such as West Yorkshire Combined Authority – has the potential to unlock around £757m of private sector investment.
When they meet on Monday, February 12, the cabinet members will be asked to agree the proposed investment and recommend to the fullcouncilmeetingthatcouncillors also approve it.