Warwickshire chosen to run pilot housing scheme

Warwickshire has been chosen to run a pilot housing project with leading government body Homes England.

Ten major regeneration sites have been identified around the county and the link-up will help ensure these homes are designed and delivered in an environmentally friendly way with the emphasis on walking, cycling and better public transport.

In outlining the new deal to members of Warwickshire County Council’s cabinet this week [Thursday December 10], Cllr Peter Butlin (Con, Admirals and Cawston), the portfolio holder for finance and property, said it would also lead to new joint ventures and partnerships with district, borough and parish councils.

He added: “This is exciting in as much that Homes England, who have a lot of expertise, are keen on this pilot.

"We will be the first to have this arrangement and I’m confident this will be great news for Warwickshire and the possibility of building a good many homes for the people of Warwickshire.

“If this is successful then Homes England are looking to roll this out across the rest of the country.

“We have an opportunity of making sure the kind of stuff that we build delivers on what we want in terms of what our priorities are. So it will be sustainable and deliver those community assets that we need with the housing.”

And council leader Cllr Izzi Seccombe (Con, Stour and the Vale) outlined some of the additional benefits, adding: “It is a fantastic opportunity for us to go forward with the knowledge and experience that Homes England can bring. It is a very innovative and exciting prospect.

“We have a big opportunity to build jobs, apprenticeships and skills within our county on this and for us to be able to deliver housing that has quality, that has low carbon outputs and is very affordable for some of our key workers and older people, this is something we have had an ambition for for a very long time.”

There was cross party support for the initiative but Cllr Keith Kondakor (Green, Weddington) urged: “If we are doing these projects they do need to have schools, GPs and a little parade of shops within 15 minutes and they should be there when the houses are built.

"We do need a few principles to make sure that we just do half the job of building houses and then people have to wait five or ten years for the schools and other things.

“While I am not against this I do want to make sure that we make it properly sustainable and don’t just say it’s sustainable.”