Building to start on 100 council houses
ANOTHER 100 council houses are to be built in Salford.
The council will start constructing them next spring after securing a £7.7m grant from Homes England.
The city once had a housing stock of just under 20,000 homes in the 1960s and 1970s.
But they became extinct in 2014 when tenants voted to switch the remaining 8,500 to private ownership through Salix Homes.
A further 5,000 were switched to City West housing association.
The takeovers were the only way money could be accessed to carry out improvements to the homes. But, as the M.E.N. reported in 2018, a throw back to old Labour policy saw the town hall build a small estate and manage the properties itself.
The council has since set up a new housing company, Derive, to provide affordable homes for local people, with schemes already underway in the Duchy and Charlestown, and Hilton Lane, providing 90 homes.
The grant cash will be used for additional schemes to be built on council-owned land in Pendlebury, Langworthy, and Ordsall. There are currently 6,000 people on the housing waiting list in the city.
The properties will all be available at social rent, starting at £74 per week for a one-bed apartment.
The homes, which will be ready in 2021, will be a mix of one and two-bed apartments, and two, three and four-bedroom homes.
Salford City mayor Paul Dennett said: “We lobbied hard to have restrictions lifted on borrowing against Housing Revenue Accounts.
“Now we are able to put this new power to good use in creating a funding pot, along with investment from Homes England, to build 101 critically needed council homes.
“There are 51 bids for every property advertised by Salford Home Search which demonstrates the need by Salford people for affordable housing in the city.
“This is another step in responding to this local housing crisis. I will be very proud to hand over the keys to these new council tenants.”