How is Caerphilly Council Aiming to Deliver 1,000 Affordable Homes?
Caerphilly County Borough Council’s Cabinet has agreed on and approved ambitious plans to deliver 1,000 new low-carbon affordable homes over the next ten years. How will this help the council to meet the increasing local housing needs?
The plans were approved as part of the ‘Development and Governance Strategy: ‘Building Together’. It also proposed the establishment of a Development and Governance Project Board, which was agreed by the Cabinet.
Whilst the strategy sets out how the Council is aiming to deliver new homes and provide a sustainable pipeline of development sites annually; it is not only about the delivery of new affordable homes.
It is focusing on how it can use its investment in new homes as a catalyst to drive growth, regeneration, and opportunity throughout the borough. The strategy considers how the highest quality affordable homes are delivered in the most cost-effective way.
There are over 6,300 households waiting for housing in Caerphilly
The Development and Governance Project Board will be able to oversee the development of Caerphilly Council’s needs-based, customer-focused, ambitious development programme.
In addition to this, Cabinet members also approved plans for the Council to sign up and agree to the key principles outlined in the Design Commission for Wales Placemaking Charter.
Cabinet Member for Housing, Councillor Shayne Cook, explained that the housing demand in Caerphilly is immense and more needs to be done to meet the demand.
The Councillor said: “There are currently over 6,300 households seeking housing on the Caerphilly Common Housing Register, including 320 in temporary accommodation.”
There is an ever-increasing need for housing nationally and this is likely to rise further, as the cost-of-living crisis impacts more households.
Caerphilly Council will provide people with training opportunities
In addition to supporting Caerphilly Council’s ambition to deliver good quality affordable low-carbon homes to meet local needs and ensure that residents’ energy costs are kept to a minimum, the strategy has also set out its plan to maximise the significant investment being made through the Council’s delivery programme.
This will also help to create new employment and training opportunities and activities to support the local supply chains and economy. The Council aims to work with local schools and colleges to promote the opportunities that are available within the immediate construction project and the housing sector.
In 2018, the Local Housing Market Assessment (LHMA) suggested that Caerphilly Homes and its partners would need to build 282 homes per annum, to keep up with the demand for affordable homes in the county borough.
The latest LHMA data is currently being collated and will inform the programme moving forward. However, the demand for homes is likely to increase and the only solution to find a way out of the housing crisis is to build.
