Salford City Council is set to give the green light to deliver an initial 67 homes across the city from its new housing company, Dérive.
A report to the council’s cabinet yesterday has cleared the way for Dérive to start work to offer the first homes in the city at ‘Salford rents’- rents that are more affordable to local people.
The full detailed business case, which aims to start reshaping the city’s housing market, will go before Dérive’s Board in April.
Dérive aims to increase the supply of well-designed, truly affordable homes to meet local housing need and contribute to the council’s wider target for new affordable homes.Nationally just under 5,500 homes were built for social rent in the last financial year.
Salford City Mayor Paul Dennett said: “The housing market is broken and there just isn’t sufficient affordable housing in the pipeline to meet the needs of local people. Without the council’s intervention the situation is unlikely to change.
“I made a commitment to build new social housing so it is really exciting to see plans for the council’s new housing company Dérive coming to life. We’re investing in high-quality truly affordable homes for future generations in the city. The rents will be our own Salford rents.”
The council will be the sole shareholder in the company, allowing profits of any future developments and rentals to be returned to the council.
The Business Plan commits £8.4 million of investment to deliver 67 homes over five years with a surplus from year one to be ploughed back into the ‘pot’ for more homes. The initial homes will be provided ‘off the shelf’ in partnership with housing providers and developers.
Mayor Dennett said “Over time the intention is that the company will become a self-financing, ethical business which maximises affordable housing delivery, with limited financial support from the council. It is a fantastic opportunity to generate social value and provide homes that people can truly afford.
“We have a number of council owned development sites earmarked. Our focus is sustainable sites previously used for housing or office accommodation to bring land back into use. These sites will allow us to work with others to create mixed tenure developments which secure our own high-quality Dérive homes.
“£2 million of Section 106 money funding from developers will help kick start the pipe line of new homes, just one of the ways that local people are benefitting from the growth of the city”
The funding projection comes from sales of properties on council owned land, grants, section 106 funds made by developers towards affordable housing and council borrowing.
Salford City Council predicts the company will create around 136 new jobs and eight apprenticeships, with an additional half million pounds of social value generated through increasing spend in the development areas.
