New development plans set to speed up building of new council homes in Wolverhampton
A new way of working is set to be put in place to speed up the delivery of new council homes on sites across Wolverhampton.
Wolverhampton Council is set to establish a housing development framework, which will be supported by £109 million from the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) budget.
It will allow contractors to apply to the framework to work in partnership with the council to deliver a pipeline of new homes.
The framework also aims to deliver significant social value benefits to the city.
There will be opportunities for longer term partnerships with contractors to invest in the city, training and apprenticeship schemes and local employment opportunities, supporting small and medium sized businesses.
Councillor Steve Evans, Wolverhampton Council's cabinet member for city housing, said: “This new framework will help speed up the delivery of good homes in well-connected neighbourhoods across Wolverhampton, while providing affordable housing to residents in housing need and for vulnerable people.
“It will also allow our housing team to plan estate regeneration and gain advice from contractors and developers on buildability and viability as we work in partnership to ensure value for money.
“This will prove to be an effective way to deliver new homes and, crucially, increases the city’s housing stock when it needs it most.”
The council’s cabinet resources panel last week approved the procurement process for the first four years of the new framework, which will also be accessible to other local authorities through an authorising agreement, generating a potential spend of up to £1 billion.
