NEW HOUSING COMPANY WILL BUILD MORE HOMES
Croydon council are proposing to set up their own housing company to address the shortage of homes in Croydon across all tenures, including affordable housing.
The building of new homes has previously been financed by the council through its housing revenue account (HRA) which has provided 100 affordable homes for rent with a further 200 set to be built by 2018.
But Croydon say that because of government restrictions on the level of borrowing within the HRA, this is now at its limit.
“The supply of new homes needs to be dramatically increased to meet current and future demands for all types of housing in Croydon” said the council in a statement.
“Therefore we are proposing to set up a ‘wholly-owned housing company’ which will enable it to set the tenure and rent.
“It would also be able to build homes exempt from right-to-buy and have freedom to borrow more money.”
Cllr Alison Butler, cabinet member for homes and regeneration, said: “Given the housing crisis in Croydon and the number of families needing a home to rent or buy, we have to explore every opportunity to boost supply.
“As a council we are committed to increasing housing supply across the borough and given the borrowing cap limiting the amount we can borrow to build new homes, we are keen to pursue other avenues such as the creation of a wholly-owned housing company.
“It would liberate the council from the government-imposed HRA borrowing cap and mean that we could work with partners or on our own to accelerate the building of homes for local residents.” (Source: Croydon council press release)
