You are viewing 1 of your 1 free articles
Birmingham Council to spend £62m building affordable housing
Birmingham Council has announced plans to invest £62m to increase the supply of affordable housing in the city.
Birmingham Council has approved plans to loan its own wholly-owned development company, In Reach, £60m on commercial terms over a 35-year period to help its acquisition and development strategy.
The property acquisition programme will see In Reach buy up 230 properties for temporary accommodation and social housing where “it makes financial sense”.
The council also approved plans to release £2m from its reserves to help pay for a higher development rate of affordable homes. The combined £62m is designed to relieve pressure on its budgets by moving people out of what it dubbed “expensive” B&Bs and other accommodation.
Figures presented to the local authority show that by the 2024/2025 financial year, the council could save up to £5.9m per year in costs from B&Bs and other private accommodation.
The council also agreed a £1m investment fund to refurbish an existing property to enable its use as an alternative to a B&B and £2.5m to set up a dedicated transformation team to increase the supply of homes and to improve its housing service.
Birmingham Council has also been allocated £680,000 via the West Midlands Combined Authority under the government’s Rough Sleepers Accommodation Programme.
READ MORE
The money will be used to invest in 40 new homes made up of one-bedroom self-contained flats for rough sleepers to stay for up to two to three years with a move-on plan.
The authority hopes to significantly reduce the use of B&B temporary accommodation through the new initiatives.
A new city housing directorate has also been set up and one of its highest priorities is a new approach to delivering the housing options service.
The service is being redesigned to increase prevention activity that avoids homelessness occurring and to provide better support for households who are in temporary accommodation, the council said.
Sharon Thompson, cabinet member for homes and neighbourhoods at Birmingham Council, said: “This is a big investment on behalf of the council in creating more new affordable homes, refurbishing existing ones, improving the housing service and tackling rough sleeping.
“Combined, they show the level of commitment that Birmingham City Council is making in our housing stock across the city and our desire to tackle the housing waiting list, improve our existing homes and eradicate rough sleeping from our streets.
“This is part of our desire to see a city-wide transformation in our housing future and shows the council is more than playing its part in tackling the national housing crisis.”
Sign up for our Council Focus newsletter
Already have an account? Click here to manage your newsletters
