Bristol announces billion-pound investment in council housing

Proposals to invest £1.8bn in council homes have been unveiled by Bristol City Council, that could see over 2,000 new homes built in the next seven years.

The proposed investment forms part of a 30-year plan that was presented to the city’s Cabinet this week and represents the biggest proposed investment in council housing in the city in over a generation.

Proposals were developed with the input of almost 1,500 local residents, who outlined priorities for council housing including building much-needed new council homes, working to make existing council homes more energy efficiency and carbon neutral, and working to improve the standards in the Council’s blocks, communal areas and estates.

Cllr Tom Renhard, Cabinet Member for Housing Delivery and Homes said: ‘We know we have a housing crisis in Bristol, and we want to be part of finding solutions. As part of our Big Housing Conversation we asked residents what they would like us to focus on. What we heard has helped shape our proposals for our 30-year Housing Revenue Account budget. We have been able to suggest how we should invest, based on what residents want. Thank you to over 1,470 people who took the time to give us their views.

‘If our plans are approved, delivery of new council homes will be increased, through borrowing, to 2,069 over the next seven years. This will quadruple the current planned Housing Revenue Account development programme. The 30-year life of the plan will allow us to invest a total of £1.8billion in new council homes – something we know the city needs and wants.

‘Two-thirds of those who took part in the consultation were supportive of us increasing rents to be able to invest more. Government policy currently allows us to increase rents for the next financial year by 4.1 per cent – this would be an average of £3.34 a week extra for residents. This extra income will allow us to invest more in our existing homes, providing an additional £80m for energy efficiency and carbon retrofitting measures by 2030 – to help us meet our ambitious climate change goals. This amount would bring committed funding to a total of £97m for energy efficiency and carbon retrofitting measures, in addition to the £42m that has been invested over the previous five years.

‘Our plans also include £12.5m for a five-year bathroom replacement programme that will deliver over 5,500 modern new bathrooms in council homes by 2027, and an additional £8.7m over five years to improve standards in communal areas, blocks and estates. These are both investments residents of the city asked us to prioritise.’

In related news, nearly £45m is set to be invested in green housing in the Liverpool City Region to tackle fuel poverty and reduce emissions.

Photo supplied by Bristol City Council