Hundreds more new council homes to stem tide of 'right to buy'

The council is also aiming to have another 500 homes available by the mid-2030s – giving a total of 1,500 – but figures released through Freedom of Information show around 750 council properties were sold in the period between 2020 and last October.

That highlights the scale of the challenged faced in Rotherham – like many local authorities – where tenants have been able to buy their homes at substantial discounts.

The initiative is the council’s answer to the impact of the ‘right to buy’ legislation, introduced in the 1980s, leaving councils unable to afford to replace homes on a like-for-like basis over past decades.

New housing comes from a variety of sources, including the council building its own – sometimes on relatively small pieces of land it is able to free up for development – with others bought directly from developers and more bought on the open market.

The programme is part of a more far-reaching scheme to improve the council’s entire housing stock.

That will see the equivalent of £60,000 being spent on each property the council owns in the next four years.

Work will be done on the exteriors, replacing doors, windows, soffits and other items where needed, while bathrooms and kitchens will also get attention where needed.

There will also be work to replace boilers, improve insulation and ventilation.

The package means that by 2030, there should be no council properties in Rotherham which fail to meet the Decent Homes standard.

In total, more than £198m will be spend on the work over the next four years – some of the new housing will fall beyond that timescale – with more than £76m going in the next 12 months.

It is anticipated more than £98m will go on new homes in the next four years.

The spending has now been approved by the ruling cabinet.

Council deputy leader Cllr Victoria Cusworth said: “To go home when you have had a tough day, and to go home into a safe environment, you cannot put a price on what that means.”