Green light sought for 22 new affordable council homes

A planning application for 11 new chalet bungalows and 11 new apartments which will become council homes for affordable rent is about to be lodged by Canterbury City Council.

The council’s Planning Committee will be asked to give the green light for the bungalows at the former Sturry Road Social Club site in East Street and the apartments on land at the end of Warwick Road which is home to disused garages.

Residents living in those areas have been written to with computer-generated images of how each scheme might look when complete.

The aim is to have the schemes shovel-ready so they are good to go when the restrictions put in place to protect the Stodmarsh nature reserve are lifted and opportunities to bring the money in to build the homes present themselves.

Cllr Pip Hazelton, Cabinet Member for Housing, said: “Delivering new, good quality, affordable housing for the people in our district that so desperately need it is at the heart of what we stand for as a council.

“And despite the funding challenges and the issues at Stodmarsh, we’re setting ourselves really challenging but ambitious targets in this area while pulling together a strategy designed to lay the foundations for more council housing over the next 15 to 20 years.”

Cllr Mike Sole, who leads on social housing delivery and is Cabinet Member for Finance, said: “Our overriding aspiration is to deliver more council housing so we need to explore every available avenue in terms of sites and being able to pay for projects.

“We need to think in different ways and taking advantage of unused or underused pieces of land to build homes for people languishing on our waiting lists is a great example of us encouraging council officers to carry on being forward thinking as well as being determined to dismantle the barriers that might get in our way.

“We want to create a pipeline of schemes that are ready to go so we can leap onto every opportunity for funding that comes along.”

Both the bungalows and the apartments have been designed by architects Bell Phillips while Pellings has been appointed as employers agent, the contract administrator which represents the client on a building project.

Cllr Mel Dawkins, Cabinet Member for Climate Change and Biodiversity, welcomes the fact the homes will be designed with Passivhaus principles in mind.

She said: “Not only will these homes be designed to do the least possible harm to the planet over their lifespan, they will save the people living in them money too at a time when gas and electricity prices are through the roof and we’re all struggling with the cost of living.”

Published: 5 April 2024