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Welsh council agrees on £83m plan to build more than 500 new homes
A county council in Wales will build more than 500 new homes after councillors agreed an £83.5m plan yesterday.
Powys County Council now plans to build 509 new homes as part of its New Homes for Powys programme.
The programme is part of the council’s new Housing Business Plan, which also promises a further £33.2m investment over the next five years in the council’s existing homes to make sure they continue to meet the Welsh Housing Quality Standard.
The standard requires homes owned by housing associations and local authorities to be in good condition.
Other programmes of work over the next five years under the plan include £4.3m to make sure all council homes and associated assets are 100% compliant with all relevant and applicable legislation and regulation.
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More than £13.4m will be spent on increasing fuel efficiency in council homes and reducing fuel poverty, and £8.6m will be spent on helping to adapt homes to the needs of older people and those with health-related needs.
The council also plans to spend £16.2m on improving the estates it manages to help improve the well-being of residents.
Myfanwy Alexander, the cabinet member responsible for housing services, said: “We know how much their homes mean to our residents and this plan sets out the ways in which we will maintain, develop and improve our housing stock.”
The Welsh government announced last week that second home owners could be hit with a 200% council tax rise as part of plans to tackle the impact of long-term vacant homes, holidays lets and the affordability and availability of housing.
The move followed the confirmation of the Welsh government’s spending plans outlined in its full Budget, which included £310m in Social Housing Grant in 2022-23 – up from £250m this year.
The Budget also confirmed plans to spend £330m on Social Housing Grant in 2023-24 and £325m in 2024-25.
In addition to the Social Housing Grant, the Budget allocated £580m for the decarbonisation of social housing in Wales up to 2024-25.
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