Council approves 'biggest plan for homes in a generation'

Published by Max Salsbury for 24dash.com in Housing and also in Development, Local Government

A council has approved a £19m programme of council housing, which it claims is the biggest such move in a generation.

Portsmouth City Council plans to provide 170 new homes for local people over five years – 122 to be built from scratch and the rest to be bought.

The new homes will replace council properties sold off under the Right to Buy programme.

"This is something we should be extremely proud of – the biggest programme of council house building in the city for a generation," said the council's leader, Cllr Gerald Vernon-Jackson.

"These are much-needed homes for local families. This programme will also mean a boost for the local construction industry, creating jobs."

The council proposes to build:

• three town houses at King William Street
• a terrace of four houses at the rear of Millgate House
• 21 flats on the Southsea Community Centre site
• 13 three-bedroom houses on the Brook Club site
• nine flats at Wellington Street
• 60 properties – three-bedroom houses, three-bedroom flats and one-bedroom flats – on the Arthur Pope House site
• 12 houses on the former Doyle Avenue health centre site

New developments will need planning permission and will be subject to public consultation.