There are hopes new homes built on the former site of renowned Nottingham bike company Raleigh could be used to boost the council’s housing stock.
More than 100 new homes are set to be built on the former headquarters of the bike giant in Church Street, Eastwood.
Property developer Homes by Honey was granted ‘outline’ planning permission for 125 homes at the site in January 2025 and Broxtowe Borough Council approved the development’s fresh layout and design plans – the next and more detailed stage in the planning process – on Wednesday (September 24).
Housing variations have been altered slightly since the plans were first submitted, meaning out of the 113 open-market homes there will be four two-beds, 56 three-beds, 48 four-beds and five five-bed properties.
Out of the scheme’s 12 affordable homes, there will be four one-bed properties, four two-beds and four three-beds.
The £41 million housing development – which will be called Raleigh – will have a “contemporary slant” according to plans, contain new green space areas and its access will come from the south of Church Street.
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It appears council officials may have their eyes on securing some of the affordable homes to boost their own housing stock as part of efforts to cut down its waiting list.
There are currently 1,318 active applications on Broxtowe council’s housing waiting list.
Eighty-seven of these are band one – those with urgent medical priority need – 220 are band two – those in urgent need – 363 are band three and the rest are band four. And the authority’s leader says a “significant portion” of band one and two applications are looking for properties in Eastwood.
Council leader, Milan Radulovic (Brox Alliance) said: “We’d love to sit down with our team and the developer to see how we could purchase a number of properties as part of our wider remit, to make sure those people [in Eastwood] are catered for now and in future.
“We’d add them to our housing stock, [the developer] would have a guaranteed sale. The people of Eastwood would look forward to having a better quality of life.
“It’s a fantastic opportunity to take a need for people, particularity in the Eastwood are – also for people with disabilities or larger families where we haven’t got land available elsewhere.”
Cllr Radulovic said there needs to be an effort to acquire the right housing for those living with medical needs and to fit homes out with adaptations, adding: “People are living longer with complex needs and we have not got the housing to meet their living requirements.”
Councillor Robert Bullock (Brox Alliance), representing the Eastwood Hall ward, told the LDRS: “[The council] is a ready buyer. We need homes for people on the housing waiting list who can’t afford to buy a property.
“The cost of living’s biting, one of the costs that’s biting people is the cost of housing, spending a large part of their income on their mortgage or rent costs.”
Cllr Bullock added Eastwood has the “biggest” housing waiting list than other areas of the borough.
The council owns its own housing stock and currently manages around 4,400 properties.
Raleigh moved onto the Church Street site in the early 2000s but its head office moved to the nearby Durban House in August 2024.
