£500m Sandwell council housing plan revealed
Nearly £500 million is to be ploughed into council housing in Sandwell over the next decade, it has been revealed.
Hundreds of new homes will be built while the existing housing stock will also undergo a radical overhaul.
The borough council will spend £184 million on new council properties, £52 million on improving 13 high-rise blocks and another £10 million on low-rise blocks five storeys or less.
A further £152 million will go into improving neighbourhoods.
The eye-watering sums will be funded through council rents and form part of the authority's vision to make Sandwell a better place to live by 2030.
Housing officials in Sandwell have had to battle huge housing waiting lists in recent years, while immigration has seen the borough's population continue to rise.
Plans already agreed by the council's cabinet will see almost £100 million worth of new housing delivered during the next four years. The new housing will come from the council’s own development projects as well as buying homes off plan from developers.
Outdated high-rise blocks are also set to be modernised, with Alfred Gunn House in Oldbury first in line for improvements.
Others due for works are Darley House, Moorlands Court, St Giles Court, Addenbrooke Court and Wesley Court in Rowley Regis; Heronville House, Paget House and Wyrley House in Oldbury; Holly Court, Oak Court, Allen House and Boulton House in West Bromwich.
Councillor Kerrie Carmichael, cabinet member for housing, said: “We’ve reviewed our Housing Investment Programme – which was last updated in 2013 – so it is fit for purpose, continues to meet new and emerging priorities for the council and we can respond to legislative changes particularly the impact of welfare reform.
“We’ve already spent £226 million on improving our council homes for tenants during the last five years - these plans mean we will be able to continue upgrading tenants' homes.
“By the end of March 2018, we will have created nearly 200 new council homes since 2016, with hundreds more in the pipeline.
“A further priority is to look at remodelling the properties we currently have to suit the changing needs of our tenants.”
Housing is currently a major issue nationally, with both the Conservatives and Labour pledging to build more homes at their party conferences.
