Cash promise for homes (From Gazette Series)

Cash promise for homes

A MULTI-MILLION pound investment in affordable housing in Dursley will help to combat a massive shortfall in reasonably priced homes across the district.

Homes will be built on two sites as part of the £4.4 million project that will house some 140 people in 45 houses.

Stroud District Council announced this week that a new package of funding has been devised to provide new housing association flats, houses and bungalows at affordable rents - as well as starter homes available to buy through low-cost home-ownership schemes.

Half of the 91 homes planned for the district will be built in Dursley as part of the redevelopment of the former Lister Petter and Bymacks sites.

Affordable housing across the district has been awarded £8.5 million as a result of a successful bid for government funding by the Gloucestershire Housing Group, which includes Gloucestershire Housing Association and Fosseway Housing Association.

This bid was supported by the council, which has committed £846,000.

The Housing Corporation has confirmed it will grant £1.225 million in 2004 and £1.829 million in 2005. These two sums are supplemented by £5.2 million of private sector funding, raised mainly by Stroud District Council's housing association partners.

The funding will subsidise 15 units on the old Lister Petter site, providing accommodation for 57 people at a cost of £1.4 million from a grant of £575,000 and the rest in private sector funding.

A total of 83 people will benefit from the old Bymacks land project. On the former furniture factory site 30 homes will be built at a cost of £3 million funded by grants of £1.2 million and the balance in private sector funding.

Housing strategy manager Andrew O'Brien said the council has a planning requirement for a certain number of affordable homes.

"The planning policy requires developers to provide 30 percent affordable housing and these cannot rely on public subsidy," he said. "There will be more affordable homes on the Lister site as the proportion of affordable housing in total is more than we currently have funding for.

"The development of these homes will not just help local needs - it will contribute to the districtwide shortfall."

Eight homes were constructed in Pin Mill in Water Street, Dursley, as part of an affordable housing scheme.

The Salvation Army housing Association properties were opened in August, 2002.

Pin Mill resident Lorna Woolams said she would have found it difficult to find a four-bedroom property in the town at an affordable rent.

"I have got five children and was living on the docks in Sharpness," said Mrs Woolams. "It was overcrowded and it would have been hard to find a four-bedroom council house in the town as most have been sold to tenants."

Surveys have shown that 300 affordable homes are needed in the district each year.

Cabinet member for housing support Cllr David Wride (Vale) said the latest funding is a welcome boost to cheaper homes in the district.

He added: "We are delighted that the funding we have just received from the Housing Corporation is around 20 percent more than last year.

"This funding means that the affordable housing projects that we have been working on over the past year can now begin construction."

When completed, the homes will all be allocated to priority applicants from the council's housing register.

THE LATEST news on the development of affordable homes in Dursley contrasts heavily with the investment made in the south of the district in 2003.

An investment of more than £4 million in 43 affordable homes in the district included only four in Dursley - and none in Wotton-under-Edge, Berkeley or Cam.

Last year the council invested its full budget - £450,000 - in the new homes, attracting nearly £4 million of additional investment from outside sources including the Housing Corporation, housing associations and charitable organisations.

The council worked with Bromford and Gloucestershire Housing Groups and the Guidepost Trust to provide new housing association flats, houses and bungalows at affordable rents - as well as starter homes available to buy through low-cost home ownership schemes, and homes for people with special needs.

Four properties were developed in Boulton Lane, Dursley, and were allocated to priority applicants from the council's housing register.

Housing strategy manager Andrew O'Brien said it is not a case of targeting specific towns at a certain time.

"Unfortunately it is a technical issue," added Mr O'Brien. "Most affordable housing programmes take at least 18 months - and some as long as three years - before funding becomes available.

"We cannot just say we must have extra homes in Dursley this year. When their time comes they get developed."

Mr O'Brien explained the council does have targets, adding: "For example in areas where there is a greater need when sites become available we aim to develop them."

THE DEFICIT in affordable housing in Wotton-under-Edge is among the worst in the district.

In the town there is on average 47 applicants for every two-bedroom letting that becomes available.

Last December Stroud District Council agreed in principle to give a 0.16 of an acre site to a registered social landlord for development of affordable housing.

Spokesman David Marshall said the Fountain Crescent site will be used for a minimum of six units.

"Wotton has by far the greatest demand for affordable housing in the district," he stated. "In 2002 27 percent of housing in the Wotton was valued at less than £100,000. If you compare this to 47 percent as a district average, it highlights the problem in the town."

Housing strategy manager Andrew O'Brien said Wotton is more problematic due to the lack of space for development.

"The town has a tight boundary," he stated. "This means there are very few opportunities to build in Wotton."