Council housing in Cardiff is about to enter a new chapter with £33m being allocated to build new Council housing over the next five years.
Executive Member for Housing, Communities and Social Justice, Cllr Judith Woodman has announced plans to build new houses in order to meet the serious housing challenges faced by the capital which is estimated will support 250 jobs and be a significant boost to the local economy.
A planned second phase of the Cardiff Partnership Scheme (CPS) which has already delivered over 100 new Council Homes is set to be delivered within the next five years.
The second phase will allow the Council to deliver sustainable, fuel efficient homes which will be built on Council-owned brownfield sites across the city
The Housing Partnering project will deliver 1,000 new homes in the city with around 400 of the homes allocated as affordable homes to rent.
Cllr Woodman, said: “The homes will go along way in tackling the challenges faced in providing for those in housing need. The investment we have planned will not only help to deliver a number of new Council houses, but we will also focus on other potential housing challenges, including, the lack of social rented housing, the inability for first time buyers to get a start on the housing ladder and the need to develop on brownfield sites.
“In the last few years the need to build new social housing has become more and more apparent, in Cardiff alone we have over 10,000 people on our waiting list and with more people losing their jobs and mortgages become harder to secure the waiting list continues to increase.
The project will also see the Council working with a partner housing developer to build new homes for open market sale and offer affordable homes for first time buyers who are struggling to get on the housing market for the first time. The scheme will also focus on sustainable development – ensuring the new homes are efficient to heat and power.
Cllr Woodman: “This is a regeneration project on so many levels, we want to use this initiative to regenerate existing housing estates and encourage growth in our housing and construction sector”
It’s estimated that the programme will support around 250 new local jobs and will help to train a new generation of builders.”
Cllr Woodman added: “I m sure this news will be very much welcomed by local construction workers and skilled trades people who have been heavily affected in the downturn in the housing market.”
Over the next few months the scheme details will be finalised with the view to begin the tendering process this summer, with the work starting on the first scheme in the 2013/14 financial year.
Cllr Woodman continued: “The project is a huge step forward and is a proposal that I am especially excited and proud to be announcing. We hope to deliver in excess of 1,000 new build houses across all tenures throughout the city. It truly is a ground breaking project that will make a huge difference to many people’s lives.”
