23.1.20

We’re planning the biggest council-house building programme for a generation.

Over the next three years, we intend to build around 100 new homes for people on its waiting list, at a cost of £7.6m.

The blueprint is for a mix of flats and houses – for families as well as single people.

The homes would be built on small sections of land already owned by the council around the borough.

Because they would be built near other council housing, they would help families stay together. And they would be designed to be lifetime homes – adaptable as people got older or became less mobile. This means people would be less likely to have to move to find a suitable home.

They would also meet current energy standards.

Cllr Graham Burgess is Chairman of the council’s Community Board, which approved the programme last night.

He said: “This is such an exciting plan. Not very many councils are building housing, but we built 16 houses at St Vincent Road a few years ago and now we’re planning this big programme. It will help us reduce our waiting list, keep families and local communities together, and meet government targets for new housing.”

The first 31 homes are planned as follows:

• Stoners Close: eight houses with two or three bedrooms
• Tukes Avenue: 20 flats with one or two bedrooms
• Russell Street: three houses with three bedrooms

The spending proposal will now go to a meeting of the full council. If it is approved, building could start this year, subject to planning permission.

Source: Gosport Borough Council