Leicester offers housing associations bargain plots to build 134 social homes
Roll up, roll up for council’s £1 land sale
Leicester Council is to sell four plots of land to housing associations for £1 each.
The bargain basement sale will enable the associations to build 134 affordable homes and access Homes and Communities Agency funding, the council said.
The four sites - at Bendbow Rise in Braunstone, land north of Manor Farm in Hamilton, the former Whittier Road allotments, and the former velodrome site on Saffron Lane - have already been identified as suitable for housing, although planning permission will still need to be obtained.
Around 30 per cent of each location will be sold to the housing associations, with the council selling the rest of the sites at market value.
The council refused to say which housing associations were in the running to buy the land, but it is understood that 15,000-home LHA-ASRA is keen on a deal.
William Cornall, group director of development and regeneration at LHA-ASRA, said it would work with the council to identify the most appropriate partner to build the private and affordable housing.
He explained: ‘We applaud the council for this innovative approach to bringing forward public sector land for residential development, placing the [housing association] at the forefront of the process in terms of establishing the key planning and design principles.’
Council leader Ross Willmott said: ‘We are doing all we can to encourage the building of more affordable homes in the city, and this scheme could provide more than 130 within the next 18 months.’
A spokesperson for Defend Council Housing said the scheme was an example of the ‘ridiculous pursuit’ of market solutions for housing at a time when the market was clearly failing to meet the sector’s needs.
‘Public land should be used more effectively for council housing, as local authorities are faster and more efficient at doing this,’ he said.
The housing associations are hoping to access money from the HCA after buying the land.
The HCA said it was aware of other councils striking similar deals but could not say how many or where they were.
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Readers' comments (1)
Oli | 20/11/2009 9:50 am
So the council sells the land on the market and 30% affordable housing is provided. Isn't that just a standard S106 provision?
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