Rotherham wins £2.2m homes cash

THE go-ahead was given for 41 more new council homes this week after council chiefs were awarded a £2.2 million slice of funding.Rotherham Borough Council had applied for £8.3 million for 127 homes on ten sites across the borough, but was told

THE go-ahead was given for 41 more new council homes this week after council chiefs were awarded a £2.2 million slice of funding.

Rotherham Borough Council had applied for £8.3 million for 127 homes on ten sites across the borough, but was told this week that it would only get enough cash for three of the schemes.

News of the latest grant comes three months after the council was granted £2.3 million to build 36 new homes in Dalton.

This second round bid to the government's Homes and Communities Agency was made in October and will result in 41 new units being built on sites in Maltby and West Melton, subject to planning permission.

Cllr Jahangir Akhtar, the council's Cabinet member for neighbourhoods, said: "This is really brilliant news because it will mean more much-needed well-designed properties for the people of Rotherham.

"Everyone is aware that there is a huge demand for council housing and these 77 new council houses, built to high design codes, will be excellent additions to our existing housing stock.

"There has been a strong desire by the authority for many years to build new homes for local people, so I am particularly pleased by the news because it shows that the government's Homes and Communities Agency has continued confidence in Rotherham's ability to deliver high quality new homes."

Wood Street and School Street in Thrybergh have been cleared to make way for the first 36 new homes—made up of 28 two, three and four-bedroomed homes and eight apartments.

Council bosses hope that the development will be the first of many aimed at slashing the council housing waiting list, which stands at about 20,000.