News: Where could new homes be built in Rotherham town centre?
Rotherham Council is waiting to find out if it has secured £32m to develop starter homes in the town centre, with a number of "go early" sites identified.
The authority took the opportunity offered by the Government's £1.2 billion Starter Homes Programme to develop proposals and submitted a bid for £32m.
The aim of the Starter Home Land Fund is to support the acquisition, remediation and de-risking of suitable land for starter home developments that can then be built out by developers by 2020. It is targeting land that is vacant, underused or unviable in non-residential use.
The Government is committed to building 200,000 quality starter homes by 2020, exclusively for first time buyers under 40 at a discount of at least 20% on their open market value.
Starter Homes are price-capped at £250,000 outside Greater London. The average house price in Rotherham is £130,000.
The outcome of the bid is still unknown and this is likely to be addressed in the forthcoming Housing White Paper, set to be published in January.
Council-owned sites in the town centre have been identified for starter homes developments and sketchbook plans are being drawn up by design architects Coda.
If funding is forthcoming, a development model is to be established which could see houses delivered by the council, direct by a developer or through the establishment of a housing company.
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The sites:
Former Henley's Garage
The site of a former garage and car showroom on Wellgate has been empty for a number of years after plans for a housing development stalled when the developer was taken over. Planning permission has previously been granted for 180 apartments.
A 0.65 Hectare site is now owned by the Council and could accommodate 87 residential units. Much of the planning work has already been carried out including site and drainage surveys. One issue is the potential contamination from the former petrol station.
Millfold House
Identified for regeneration and acquired by the Council back in 2008, the site on Westgate has most recently been used by local charity Shiloh. It was identified for disposal and possible demolition last year with the charity moving to the Council's former weighbridge at Masbrough.
The 0.39 hectare Gateway site has the potential to house 116 units and it is understood that neighbouring land owners have offered their land for sale which presents further opportunities to expand the development site.
Sheffield Road Car Park
The site of the former Sheffield Road swimming baths has been used by the Council as a car park since buildings were demolished in 2005. The 0.68 hectare site has the potential for 158 units.
The use for residential is being examined and redevelopment of that area at the waterfront has long been desired. The riverside site brings its problems however including works for flood alleviation and to the retaining river wall.
Former Magistrates Court
The Rotherham Magistrates' Court, County Court and Family Court recently closed with hearings moved to Sheffield. The Council is currently in negotiations to buy back the Magistrates court for £1. The current market value of the property is deemed to be in the region of £600,000.
The 0.40 hectare site has been allocated for community use but residential development of the site would provide 120 units including 60 starter homes.
Images: Google Maps
The authority took the opportunity offered by the Government's £1.2 billion Starter Homes Programme to develop proposals and submitted a bid for £32m.
The aim of the Starter Home Land Fund is to support the acquisition, remediation and de-risking of suitable land for starter home developments that can then be built out by developers by 2020. It is targeting land that is vacant, underused or unviable in non-residential use.
The Government is committed to building 200,000 quality starter homes by 2020, exclusively for first time buyers under 40 at a discount of at least 20% on their open market value.
Starter Homes are price-capped at £250,000 outside Greater London. The average house price in Rotherham is £130,000.
The outcome of the bid is still unknown and this is likely to be addressed in the forthcoming Housing White Paper, set to be published in January.
Council-owned sites in the town centre have been identified for starter homes developments and sketchbook plans are being drawn up by design architects Coda.
If funding is forthcoming, a development model is to be established which could see houses delivered by the council, direct by a developer or through the establishment of a housing company.
Advertisement
The sites:
Former Henley's Garage
The site of a former garage and car showroom on Wellgate has been empty for a number of years after plans for a housing development stalled when the developer was taken over. Planning permission has previously been granted for 180 apartments.
A 0.65 Hectare site is now owned by the Council and could accommodate 87 residential units. Much of the planning work has already been carried out including site and drainage surveys. One issue is the potential contamination from the former petrol station.
Millfold House
Identified for regeneration and acquired by the Council back in 2008, the site on Westgate has most recently been used by local charity Shiloh. It was identified for disposal and possible demolition last year with the charity moving to the Council's former weighbridge at Masbrough.
The 0.39 hectare Gateway site has the potential to house 116 units and it is understood that neighbouring land owners have offered their land for sale which presents further opportunities to expand the development site.
Sheffield Road Car Park
The site of the former Sheffield Road swimming baths has been used by the Council as a car park since buildings were demolished in 2005. The 0.68 hectare site has the potential for 158 units.
The use for residential is being examined and redevelopment of that area at the waterfront has long been desired. The riverside site brings its problems however including works for flood alleviation and to the retaining river wall.
Former Magistrates Court
The Rotherham Magistrates' Court, County Court and Family Court recently closed with hearings moved to Sheffield. The Council is currently in negotiations to buy back the Magistrates court for £1. The current market value of the property is deemed to be in the region of £600,000.
The 0.40 hectare site has been allocated for community use but residential development of the site would provide 120 units including 60 starter homes.
Images: Google Maps
3 comments:
While other towns will be building high rise eye catching flats in there town centres,Rotherham plans to build houses??Just poroves point that Rotherham is ran like a small parish and not a large town of 260000 !
But not many people want to live in high flats, this was proved by Labour pulling down " classic " houses in London and building " Del Boy " flats - that "no one wanted to move into except immigrants "
Im on about quality high rise developments,like all major towns and citys have.Houses are simply a waste of valuable land.As your a councillor,can you actually tellme of any other major towns that intend to build houses right into there town centres,because id be intrigued to know.Is Barnsley and Doncaster?No because they have forward thinking ambitious councils,that can see that quality high rise city centre living brings in quality people ,which then brings in a quality night time economy.Rotherham.is run like a small parish council,its light years behind everywhere else.Embarrasing.Thank you RMBC !
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