15 January 2010
The Government has awarded Greenwich a further £1.78m to build new council homes in the borough. The money is set to fund 16 new homes over four sites in Shooters Hill, Woolwich, Plumstead and Abbey Wood.
House building programme
Funding for the new homes is coming through the Government's £500m Local Authority House Building Programme which allows local authorities to build new council homes for the first time in more than two decades.
Second grant secured
The money is being administered by the Homes and Communities Agency which announced the award earlier this week.
It follows an earlier successful bid by Greenwich Council in the autumn which provided £4.2m to build 47 homes at eight sites. Work is about to start on 40 homes at seven of those sites after the Council granted planning approval following consultation with local residents.
High quality homes for larger families
All the new homes will be built to the highest environmental standards and are designed to meet the housing needs of larger families. They will be allocated through Greenwich Homes - the borough’s lettings service - which will allocate the homes based on housing need, family size and current overcrowding.
'Important contribution'
Cllr Peter Brooks, Deputy Leader of Greenwich Council, said, "It’s great news that Greenwich has succeeded in securing a second grant to build more council homes. The new homes will make an important contribution to the housing needs of local families and helps meet our desire to provide more family homes for larger households.
"The Council has worked closely with many partners such as housing associations to ensure new homes are built in the borough and this programme allows the council to directly build and manage new homes for rent for the first time in 20 years. These new schemes will also build on our investment in the Decent Homes programme which is providing home improvements for thousands of existing council tenants in the borough."
Further information