Mansfield Council starts work on £310,000 housing project

Coun Marion Bradshaw says the new project is 'fantastic news'.

Supported by a grant of £65,384 from Homes England, the property in Bamford Drive, Mansfield, will be converted into one two-bedroom house, one three-bedroom house and a one-bedroom bungalow suitable for a wheelchair user.

The homes are among the first of 300 new council homes planned for the district over the next four years.

The grant from Homes England, under its Shared Ownership and Affordable Homes Programme, will enable the council to support other schemes within its £51.9 million housing programme.

The net cost to the council is £110,450, based on the projected final cost.

Coun Marion Bradshaw, portfolio holder for housing, said: “It is fantastic news that work has begun on building additional affordable council housing in the district.

“The new local plan says that the district needs 6,500 new homes by 2033.

“The council’s development programme will help this area to meet that target and it also aligns the council’s priorities for growth, place, aspiration and health and wellbeing.

“As this district has a higher-than-average proportion of people with disability, mobility and long-term health conditions, we are pleased that one of the homes in this particular scheme will be suitable for a wheelchair user.”

The council's housing programme will be built in line with the authority's climate change agenda by being sustainable and energy efficient.

The construction work will also, where possible, provide employment and training opportunities for local people.

Previously, Government caps on borrowing limited the amount councils could borrow to build new homes.

Recently, relaxed rules on loans have now allowed the council to borrow against its property assets to expand its rented housing stock further.

The schemes include at least 100 new homes in an expansion of the council’s acclaimed Poppy Fields development for older people, and an estimated 80 homes through acquisition, development and renovation, as part of a masterplan for the town centre and other sites.