Stoke-on-Trent announces £40m housing partnership

Stoke-on-Trent City Council has announced it is to undertake a major £40m regeneration programme in order to deliver hundreds of affordable houses.The scheme will be carried out by a public-private sector partnership — the first of its kind in the West Midlands city — between the council, Cheyne Capital and Homes England.A total of 379 new affordable homes will be built in Stoke-on-Trent on cleared brownfield land and at a housing scheme where 155 low rise flats and maisonettes will be replaced with 226 new apartments.The new accommodation will include rented housing, one-bed apartments for older people and family housing. It will also include more car parking, improved waste management facilities, extra security and landscaping.The council has established its own company to be a registered provider of affordable housing, which will enable it to access grant support from the Government agency Homes England.Cheyne Capital will use its Social Property Impact Fund to buy the land and fund the development and the city council will lease back the properties over 40 years after which it will have the opportunity to buy them for £1.The council’s housing repairs and maintenance company Unitas will be responsible for maintaining the properties.