A number of new homes on an estate in Nottingham will now be opened up for rent to people on the social housing waiting list.
More than 8,000 people were on Nottingham City Council’s housing waiting list towards the end of 2022.
To help meet this demand councillors agreed to open up a number of homes for rent on a new 130-home estate in Bilborough.
Strata Homes’ plans to build the properties on 14 acres of land next to Westbury Academy were approved at a planning committee meeting on April 19.
Of the 130 properties, 26 were due to be made ‘affordable homes’.
At least 20 per cent of properties on new developments must be affordable, as set out in the council’s local plan.
However, council officers argued a better use of these homes would be to open them up for rent for people and families on its social housing waiting list.
It was proposed 21 properties would be put up for social rent and affordable rent purposes instead.
The new use proposals had to be discussed by the council’s planning committee once again, because the number of homes being made available for this purpose dipped below the required 20 per cent.
Councillors unanimously agreed on the proposals at the meeting on June 21.
Cllr Graham Chapman (Lab) said the decision to put the homes up for affordable rent addresses the needs of the area “better”.
“I think this should be our approach in the future,” he said.
Council officers said the city’s housing needs assessment revealed there is a “very clear we have very acute need for more affordable houses for rent.”
The properties will house people on the council’s social housing waiting list or people nominated through Housing Aid because they are facing homelessness.
The site sits in the middle of Chingford Road to the south, Westbury Academy to the south-east, Denewood Crescent to the east, Yatesbury Crescent to the north and Wigman Road to the west.
The developer will also provide a financial contribution of £63,885 towards local employment and training, as well as a further £390,427 towards secondary school provision.
Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) NHS Trust has also made a request for a contribution of £145,853 towards the provision of additional secondary health care services to meet patient demand arising from the development.
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