October 9, 2024

Denbighshire County Council has welcomed a funding announcement from the Welsh Government which encourages the building of council homes.

The Welsh Government wants local authorities to build more council homes using modern methods of construction (MMC) that will allow for the building of better quality homes, faster than traditional methods allow, in order to meet the growing need for affordable housing.

Ministers are making a £45million investment in the modular housing industry in Wales, to ensure it can deliver the next generation of social housing with £20 million for MMC businesses and £25 million for round four of the Welsh Government’s Innovative Housing Programme, focusing on innovative housing delivered through MMC.

As part of its Corporate Plan, Denbighshire County Council has committed to build 170 new council homes by 2022.

Planning permission has been granted for 22 new energy efficient council homes to be built in Denbigh on land above Tan y Sgubor, funded through the Innovative Housing Programme.

The frames and walls for the new houses will be made off site in North Wales by Creating Enterprise, a subsidiary of Cartrefi Conwy, utilising MMC methods.

Cllr Tony Thomas, Denbighshire’s Lead Member for Housing and Communities, said:

“We welcome the Welsh Government’s continued investment in council housing which supports us to deliver our challenging Corporate Plan target.

“We have already secured planning permission for homes in Denbigh and Prestatyn with further plans to be submitted for Rhyl later in the year.

“The Council recognised a need to ensure housing is available to meet the needs of Denbighshire residents. We made housing a priority in our Corporate Plan and we are delivering on our promise to provide a wide range of accommodation available to suit different needs and council homes are an important part of this.

“We are also looking further into the future and considering how we can bring our existing housing stock up to higher energy efficiency standards in response to the climate emergency and look forward to ongoing dialogue with the Welsh Government to help us achieve this for the benefit of our residents.”

The Council has pledged to support the development of 1000 new homes in Denbighshire by 2022, with 260 of those designated as affordable.