Thirty empty properties will now be bought back into use as affordable housing.
The
properties will be purchased and repaired using £533,000 of grant
funding awarded by the Homes and Communities Agency and council funding
of £1,386,000 from the Housing Revenue Account.
It
is intended that the main focus of the project will be to purchase and
repair empty properties in the Central Harbour and Eastcliff wards of
Ramsgate.
The
properties purchased will become part of the council’s housing stock
and once repaired, the accommodation will be advertised to those on the
housing register through the Choice Based Lettings system. All rents
received will be reinvested into the Housing Revenue Account.
The
council was awarded the funding from the HCA in November 2011 after
submitting a bid as part of the government’s 2011-2015 Affordable Homes
Programme.
Cllr.
Iris Johnston, Cabinet Member for Community Services, said: “The
council is committed to providing affordable homes for Thanet’s
residents and we intend to use this money wisely and bring back 30 empty
properties that blight our area.
We
know that affordable, decent housing is very important for our
residents and is a key priority in our Corporate Plan for 2012 – 16.
“By
committing to support the grant funding already received from the HCA,
the council can continue its hard work in reducing the number of empty
properties and bring them back into use as affordable homes.”
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