Council buys five new-build homes to use for temporary accommodation

MORE than £1 million of government funding to reduce housing pressures in Torridge is being been used to purchase five properties at East-the-Water, Bideford.

- by ALISON STEPHENSON Local Democracy Reporter [e-mail]

The houses at the Devonshire Homes site at The Grange were considered by Torridge District Council's estates team to be “the best value for money” of all the new developments in the area.

They ranged from £202,000 to £240,000 after a discount was secured and each have two or three bedrooms. These, together with a four-bed property bought a year ago for renovation in Appledore, will go into the council's housing stock.

Four of the new builds will become temporary accommodation straight away and the other one and the renovation will be used initially for a government-led resettlement scheme for vulnerable refugees and be available to local residents at a later date.

The council received £945,000 from round three of the Local Authority Housing Fund and an additional £21,000 per property.

The total price tag of the homes is £1,147,000, which means the authority will have to add £18,000 from its reserves.