Council sets out programme to borrow £125m to build new council houses
Stoke-on-Trent council is next week set to approve plans to quadruple its council housebuilding programme by building an additional 1,000 homes over the next six years.
The council’s cabinet will meet next Tuesday to decide on officer proposals to borrow £125m from the housing revenue account to build the extra homes to meet the need for social and affordable housing in the city and replace the 1,000 council homes lost through the Right-to-Buy policy since 2012.
The scheme, if approved, will come on top of existing plans to buy or build 370 homes for rent from borrowing £65m. A report to Stoke’s cabinet said council-owned sites had been identified on which to build the homes.
The plans follow former prime minister Theresa May’s October 2018 decision to lift the cap on council borrowing against its housing rent roll – known as the HRA – in order to fund them building more homes.
A report commissioned by the Chartered Institute of Housing, National Federation of ALMOs (arms-length management organisations) and the Association of Retained Council Housing, published yesterday, said that councils were on course to build at least 10,000 homes per year, despite major funding obstacles remaining.
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