'We're taking direct action to tackle the housing crisis'

Council set to spend £8.8m on 48 homes for affordable rent on site of former school

- Phil Corrigan Local Democracy Reporter

A COUNCIL is planning to spend £8.8 million buying up 48 homes on a new housing estate.

Lovell Partnership secured permission to build 193 homes on the former Edensor High School site in Longton in April, more than a decade after the school closed.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council is now looking to purchase around a quarter of the properties and offer them as socially rented properties. Council leaders say the new homes, which will range in size from two to four bedroom properties, will help reduce the long wait for a council house - there are currently more than 3,000 people on the authority's waiting list.