Dacorum Borough Council has completed a deal with the government that will see them build forty-five new council homes during the next three years. The council then hopes to build another thirty new homes each year from 2015.
Money is available to build the new properties due to the changes to complex housing rules that now mean that the council are able to keep rents themselves and no longer hand money to central government. There are currently 11,000 council homes in the borough that are all protected with landlords insurance and the council also have over 6,000 people who are on the waiting list for a home.
Dacorum Borough Council is also making changes to its housing policy so that new tenancies will only last five years rather than a lifetime. Housing chiefs claim this will change nothing as there will be a presumption that all tenancies will be renewed unless the tenant has broken the law in some way but residents fear that the move will create unsettled communities. The new rules have been blamed on the huge shortage of council homes in the borough but will not affect existing tenants or anyone moving into sheltered accommodation. A full consultation on the changes will be taking place during the summer.
Councillor Margaret Griffiths, cabinet member for housing, said: “These forty-five new homes are just the start. We know there is a big demand for affordable housing within our borough and are determined to give more people the keys to their own front door. This month we have taken control of the way our housing service is funded and from now on we will be a proactive landlord with ambitious development plans. When we have completed the homes funded by the Homes and Communities Agency, we will use our own resources to build around thirty additional homes each year as well as making improvements to existing homes.”