Sheffield City Council has laid out plans to spend £500m on building and improving council housing over the next five years.
The spending plan has been laid out in the council’s housing revenue account (HRA) business plan for 2020/2021, according to The Construction Index.
In 2019 Sheffield City Council committed to providing 1,600 new council homes by 2023/24 and this year this is being extended by an additional 1,500, taking the total to 3,100 new council homes over the next 10 years.
The biggest investment in the plan is in the form of improving the city’s existing council house stock. This includes updating kitchens, bathrooms, windows, doors, roofs and improving communal areas.
Councillor Paul Wood, cabinet member for neighbourhoods and community safety at Sheffield City Council, said: “We have ambitious plans to provide housing that gives people options, meets the demand and varying needs of our residents, and creates thriving communities.
“The truth is there isn’t sufficient affordable housing in the city, we don’t have enough options available within our council housing stock and we need to maintain the quality of tenants’ existing homes.
“We are tackling all of these issues head on, investing millions of pounds to make sure people in Sheffield have suitable, well maintained homes that they can afford and be proud of.
“As well as all of these benefits to our housing offer, this level of investment over the next few years will also create hundreds of employment and apprenticeship opportunities for local people, providing essential jobs and up-skilling our future tradespeople.”
