New Eastwood council home projects moving ‘at pace’

Broxtowe Council has spent more than £1.36 million over the last couple of years on various sites in the town in an effort to add to its housing stock.

The authority owns its own council homes, managing around 4,400 properties across the borough, and an update on the projects was given in the council’s cabinet meeting on June 2.

Coun Vanessa Smith (Brox All), portfolio holder for housing, said the schemes – that would deliver about 25 homes – were moving ‘at pace’.

She said: “Particularly the armed forces accommodation is a really good example of where us being able to build our own council housing is really important because we’re able to directly address very specific needs within our communities that perhaps private developers and housing associations might not have the same interest in.

“We’ve made a commitment to deliver those sorts of properties, dementia-friendly, adapted bungalows.”

The council completed its purchase of an empty parcel of land off Cross Street, in Eastwood’s Hill Top, in October 2024.

The authority was originally planning to build eight apartments, with the scheme designed to support ex-forces personnel who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.

It was expected that the apartments would be completed by 2025, but the scheme has dealt with some delays, with council leader Coun Milan Radulovic (Brox All) previously hoping formal building works would start by spring 2026.

Now, the authority is working with two options – six one-bed flats or four one-bed flats and two, two-bed flats.

Coun Radulovic previously told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “Veterans being on the street is a national disgrace – we’re doing our bit.

He said in November 2025, there were plans to name the development after the late Sir Dennis Pettitt, a D-Day veteran who served as leader of Nottinghamshire Council between 1981 and 1998.

The total cost of the project is expected to be around £1.59m, with some financial support from Homes England.

Broxtowe’s council is aiming to submit formal plans in July with the hope of starting work on site by October.

The former county council daycare centre on Church Street is now said to be ‘obsolete’ as a specialist care facility, with the borough council stating it has been empty ‘for some months’.

Broxtowe Council bought the site in April 2026 for £325,000, with plans to spend £700,000 turning the space into four one-bed apartments and one two-bed bungalow.

The new homes would be available for social rent once built and the entire scheme is expected to cost £1.3m.

According to the authority, there are 126 ‘general needs’ housing applicants who are in need of a one-bed, two-person property and 92 households who require a two-bed property.

Documents say a planning application is expected to be submitted in late July.

Approval to buy the former Wollaton Nursery building on Church Street, was granted by the authority’s cabinet in March 2025 at a cost of £725,000 and later purchased in September.

The site, currently secured by gates, will be demolished to make way for 12 new apartments, which will be a mix of one and two-bed.

Lawrence Avenue is a garage site owned by the council where nine out of the 14 garages are currently used by residents.

Following notice being served on the used garages, the site will be demolished to make way for two two-storey homes, which will either be two-bed or three-bed once housing need is determined.

The projects, being rolled into one, at both locations are set to add 14 new affordable properties to the council’s housing stock, specifically for social rent purposes.

Broxtowe Council is aiming for the demolition of the former nursery site to take place in July or August, with formal planning applications for the new homes expected in late July.