News / Housing
Bristol City Council to launch its own housing company
Bristol is in the midst of an acute housing crisis, with lack of supply and increasing demands leading to ever-spiralling costs.
Mayor Marvin Rees has pledged to build 2,000 homes per year by 2020 in a bid to address this – but beyond that, the Labour administration says it wants to create mixed neighbourhoods and discourage “gated communities” that only serve to exacerbate existing divides.
It is in with these two goals in mind that the council is seeking to create its own housing company, a move it says will accelerate house-building across the city and enable greater control over the sites that are developed.
is needed now More than ever
The formation of the new company has been on the cards for some time, with the strategic business case approved in March 2017, and the cabinet is expected to give it the final green light at a meeting on Tuesday.
Sites already earmarked for new housing include the council-owned Romney House, a former school site, in Lockleaze – where outline planning permission for 268 homes was secured in July – and the Baltic Wharf Caravan land on Cumberland Road.
The caravan park has been identified as a prime site for new homes
The plan is to transfer the council-owned land to the newly-formed housing company, meaning the Caravan and Motorhome Club, which operates the waterfront plot in Hotwells, will be displaced. A spokeswoman for the organisation said it was aware of this but did not want to comment at this stage.
When challenged on the club’s closure via Twitter, Paul Smith, cabinet member for housing, said it is “nonsense to have an important city centre site being used as a private caravan site” when 500 families are forced to live in temporary accommodation.
https://twitter.com/bristolpaul/status/1034163557464719360
Speaking to Bristol24/7 about Bristol’s housing crisis in March, he said the city is “on the verge of a resurgence in council housing, with the most dramatic change since the 1980s in the way we are trying to do things”.
The housing company will be wholly-owned by the council – following the lead of Bristol Energy and Bristol Waste – and the first schemes will be joint ventures with a development organisation, a tactic officers claim will reduce the risk to the council and draw on expertise in the field.
Marvin Rees says housing is vital to improving the quality of life for people in the city
Commenting ahead of the cabinet meeting, Rees said: “Good quality housing can contribute to the overall health and wellbeing of people in Bristol. We are committed to getting things done and have big ambitions for Bristol.
“Building quality housing is vital to making things happen in the city and improving the quality of life for the people who live here.
“If the housing company is given the green light, it could help to speed up the development of housing and create mixed communities where people want to live and work.”
Sites developed by the housing company would also comply with council planning policies, aiming to deliver, as a minimum, policy compliant affordable housing.
Kevin Bourner, general manager of Homes England for the South West said the launch of a council-owned housing company would be a positive step in delivering the homes needed in the city.
Read more: Solving Bristol’s housing crisis
Our top newsletters emailed directly to you
