THE GREEN light has been given on the allocation of grants to increase the availability of affordable housing in Nuneaton and Bedworth.
Warwickshire County Council’s all powerful cabinet approved the funding for the borough.
A number of projects were initially rubber-stamped by councillors in 2010 before the Local Public Sector Awards was reduced.
The capital allocation towards affordable housing known as the Local Public Service Agreement 2 (LPSA2) has remained in place.
Councillor Alan Cockburn, cabinet member for sustainable communities, said: “We are committed, despite the reduction in funding from the original figure, to seeing through a programme of affordable housing that will address local needs.”
In Nuneaton and Bedworth the LPSA2 cash will bring 25 unoccupied properties back into use.
A rolling load fund of £150,000 will pay for the refurbishment and the loan payments, which have to be repaid within five years, will be earmarked to support the redevelopment of additional unoccupied properties.
The borough currently has 4,423 applicants registered for housing, a figure which has more than doubled since 2007.
The remaining LPSA2 funds will support the development of a further 50 new affordable homes.
In total, the amount of funding available to the affordable housing project in Warwickshire is £2,318,939 and it has been divided equally between the five district and boroughs, resulting in £463,787 per district.
Warwickshire Heads of Housing Group has been looking at how the money could be spent in each district to address local needs.
The business plans developed by the Warwickshire Housing authorities will look to deliver:
* 178 new ‘affordable’ homes across Warwickshire as part of a 388 new home development programme across the county.
* Develop a revolving loan fund to bring 70 empty homes back into use initially, leading to 150 under the local authority private letting scheme.
* Develop a 16 unit supported housing scheme for young people and a 63 unit sheltered housing scheme for older residents.
Cllr Cockburn added: “No solution fits all needs across the county so we have used local intelligence to direct our strategy in allocating the funds and making the biggest possible difference to Nuneaton and Bedworth.”
