Salford City Council is wishing to pull off a Christmas miracle this year, by hoping to build council homes once again in the city.
The council announced today that they have put in bids for cash to build over one hundred new homes, on council owned land in Clifton, Seedley, and two sites in Ordsall – all of which will be truly affordable for local people, and will cost £14 million to build.
The money would see a range of one and two bedroomed apartments, along with two, three and four bedroomed houses being built for social rent.
Salford City Mayor, Paul Dennett, said: “£14 million for new council housing would make a huge difference. Not only will we see the first council homes built for nearly a decade, but there will be construction jobs and training opportunities for local people during the build.”
The grant application is for a share of a dedication funding pot of £1.67 billion from Houses England, which is eligible for high affordability local authority areas. There are approximately 150 recognised high affordability areas nationally, one of which is Salford.
Salford is a fast growing city, with an expanding population – 39 people apply for one affordable property when it comes available.
5,800 people in Salford are on the housing register, meaning the city needs to create 760 affordable homes every year, just to meet this demand.
@SalfordCouncil has announced their £14 million bid for affordable housing across #Salford. Would you benefit from more affordable housing in your local area?
— Salford Now (@SalfordNow) December 5, 2018
The government has recently lifted restrictions on borrowing against Housing Revenue Accounts, meaning Salford City Council can borrow just over half of the funding needed for the new affordable houses they’re hoping to build.
However, since putting in the bid, funding rules have changed. The mayor explained that the government now intends to target most the funding for affordable housing to areas in London and the south of England. If this happens, Salford and the North West will be hugely disadvantaged.
Paul Dennett, added: “We do not know if our bid will be successful, but do not want to lose out in this ‘geographic targeting’ when we need to be building many more affordable homes to meet the needs of people in Salford.”
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