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Council relaunches ‘£1 homes’ scheme
Stoke-on-Trent City Council is launching the second phase of its so-called ‘£1 homes’ scheme.
The project, officially called Reviving Communities, aims to bring empty and dilapidated homes back into use.
The authority is investing £1.5m to purchase and refurbish up to 25 privately owned vacant homes in the Hanley area of the city.
Local residents will then be able to buy a home which has been renovated by the council for £1, paying for the cost of the works through a 10-year low-interest loan of £30,000.
Under the first phase of the scheme launched in 2013, 33 of the council’s own properties were transformed and reoccupied – and it will reinvest loan repayments from buyers of those homes to help fund the second phase.
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Priority will be given to applicants with a strong local connection to the area and modest salaries that would normally make home ownership unaffordable.
The homes will be refurbished by local contractors through the council’s repair company, with the first residents expected to move in from summer 2018.
Randolph Conteh, cabinet member for housing, communities and safer city at Stoke-on-Trent City Council, said: “The project focuses on providing something affordable, sustainable, imaginative and with the ability to bring back an element of pride to the neighbourhood.
“It not only enables hardworking people on modest salaries to buy homes they would not otherwise be able to afford, it helps to regenerate rundown parts of the city – adding to a sense of community for residents and helping to tackle social issues.
“The first phase of the scheme attracted national and worldwide media interest, and queries from other local authorities about how they could develop a scheme of their own.”
