GBC Cracks the Century in Building 100-Plus New Council Homes

Published on: 3 Sep, 2019
Updated on: 4 Sep, 2019

Celebrating the provision of more social housing, Philip O’Dwyer GBC’s Director of Community Services, Ward Councillor James Steel, Cllr Angela Goodwin, Rachel Harper – New Build Development Manager and Ward Councillor Fiona White.

The first tenants are happily settling into their new council homes at The Orchard in Park Barn where the borough council has built 18 flats, nine wheelchair-accessible, on the site of the former Apple Tree pub.

Since 2014, when councils got powers to build more homes, GBC has built more than 115 new properties around the borough, with other sites in development, including 12 flats at Ladymead due to complete this autumn.

The Apple Tree pub in Southway, Park Barn which the new Orchard development replaces.

Cllr Angela Goodwin, lead for Housing (social and affordable), Homelessness, Access and Disability, said: “I’m delighted we’ve reached this important milestone of building more than 100 new council homes for local residents who need them most.

“There is a lack of affordable housing in our borough and house prices and rents are among the highest in the country. This particularly affects key workers such as nurses who provide essential services for our community.

“We need to provide affordable housing so more people can live near their jobs, which will also help reduce congestion on our roads and improve staff retention for local employers.”

There are 2,000 on the council’s Housing Register awaiting a new home.

Cllr Jan Harwood

Following is the response from Cllrs Angela Goodwin and Jan Harwood, lead for Planning and Housing Delivery.

It is premature in the new administration to answer your questions exactly, but we’re happy to give you a high-level response at this stage.

Yes, we do stand by our aim to build 3,000 new council homes over the next 10 years. But it would be disingenuous to pretend the political landscape has not shifted.

Cllr Angela Goodwin.

Our pre-election manifesto pledge was based on an assumption that the Tory Local Plan was not yet adopted and that a new administration could bring about substantial changes, including social housing provisions often lacking in Conservative-led planning.

As we have now discovered, the last-minute adoption of the Local Plan has somewhat tied our hands in this regard.

But we are hopeful of changes in the national picture, specifically for a new government which will reverse some of the debilitating local council cuts under the Conservatives and provide actual support for councils to provide housing, including an overhaul of the dysfunctional planning system.

Till then we have to be creative with our solutions. We believe there are opportunities to provide social housing as part of some of the larger developments included in the Local Plan.

Additionally, GBC is already committed to building more council homes and has its own build programme. Sites across our borough are being identified. Some sites are at the pre-application planning stage and others in early negotiations, so we’re unable to share any further details at present.

It’s important to note that council homes are offered to our residents in different ways. These include existing GBC housing stock and joint ventures/collaboration with housing association properties for rent and/or part-buy options.

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