Work starts on first council homes for more than a decade
WORK to create 11 social-rent homes in Hurst is now underway after six former council homes were demolished just before Christmas.
Situated in Tape Lane, work on the new homes will start properly this month.
Wokingham Borough Council, which is funding the homes, said that the homes are much-needed.
Planning permission was granted in October 2017: the six homes on the site had failed to meet the Decent Homes Standard. As a result, the tenants were re-allocated homes elsewhere in the borough.
And the council said that the Tape Lane development is “a milestone achievement” as it will be the first traditional council housing that it has constructed for the first time in more than a decade.
The development comprises a mix of two and three bedroom homes as well as one fourbedroom bungalow.
The site demolition and future development is being overseen by the councilowned development company Wokingham Housing (WHL). When finished, they will be part of the council’s housing stock.
Cllr Pauline Jorgensen, deputy leader of the council, was delighted.
She said: “The provision of good quality, affordable and social housing across the Borough is of the utmost importance to the council.
“Tape Lane is an excellent example of how we can take something that is old and no longer fit for purpose and then deliver new homes that are in line with need and built to a specification that will last for future generations.”