Council looks to apply for new homes money

A grant of more than £1.25 million is being sought by Cannock Chase Council to build 16 homes on former garage sites.

The remainder of the £2,380, 530 bill would come from loans.

The authority is considering a applying for a grant from the Homes and Communities Agency for Social Housing to build seven houses on two sites at Jubilee estate in West Chadsmoor, Cannock, two sites on the Longford estate and four houses in St Michael's Road, Brereton.

The costs would be £1,003,392 for the Jubilee Estate, including £490,000 of borrowing; £790,628 for the Longford estate site, including £350,000 of borrowing; and £586,512 for the St Michaels Road site including £273,512 borrowing.

The homes would be larger than usual to plug a hole in the council's housing stock and to make the most of the available land.

There would be 10 three-bed homes to accommodate five people each, four four-bed properties for six people and two five-bed houses for eight people.

At present there are no houses with more than four bedrooms in the council's housing stock.

Rents would range from £81.95 a week for a three-bed house on the Jubilee estate to £102.08 for a five-bed property on the Longford estate.

Council leader Neil Stanley said: "The great benefit of this is that we would be increasing the number of affordable homes for rent in the district.

"The private market is limited and the public sector not enough. As demand grows, we have to find increasingly innovative ways of meeting that demand.

"This would effectively see the council building for itself on its own land for the first time in more than 20 years."

The issue will be discussed at the council's cabinet committee meeting tomorrow.