Sheffield City Council has secured £4 million of funding to help purchase and refurbish another 55 homes under the Government’s Local Authority Housing Fund Scheme.
The funding is intended to support housing for people who are homeless, at risk of homelessness or here under the Afghan resettlement scheme or those fleeing the war in Ukraine. In Sheffield this will help keep people out of unsuitable and expensive hotel accommodation into more suitable and affordable housing.
Councillor Douglas Johnson, Chair of the Housing Policy Committee said,
“It is really encouraging to see the Council taking opportunities to draw in new funding to secure more homes which will be affordable to rent at a time of rising private rents and with owner occupation simply unaffordable for thousands in our city. The money is not just for purchase of existing housing but also for improving them to modern standards.
“These new homes will add to those that are already planned under the Council’s Stock Increase Programme. With the cost of building new properties rising due to inflationary pressure in the construction industry, it makes sense to buy and improve existing housing when it is available. In difficult financial times, we need to be on the ball and awake to any opportunities to draw in funding to improve housing and make it affordable to those on low incomes.”
NOTES
Local Authority Housing Fund – Report to Strategy and Resources Committee – 19/4/23
Officer Decision Report (sheffield.gov.uk)
