Support sought over council building homes for sale and rent

Officers have been looking into the possibility of the council building its own houses to buy and rent.

The authority’s cabinet is set to sign off the plans at a meeting at Shirehall next week.

Tim Smith, head of commercial services, said the move is in response to a need for a certain type of housing across the county.

“We need to build 28,750 homes by 2036,” he said.

“Last year was a record-breaking year for the number of housing being built but what we have seen is that developers are focused on two, three and four bedroom homes, and this is not what we need.

“It is not what a big section of our population can afford either. Evidence shows we need more affordable housing and two-bedroom homes.

“We’re not thinking about setting up a company to be dominant in the housing market. We want to provide the housing that is needed.”

A report by officer Mark Barrow revealed the ratio of house price to average income in Shropshire is 7.62 per cent against the national average of 6.74 per cent.

It also said only 50 per cent of the population in the county can accord private rental values and just 32 per cent can afford to buy an entry level property.

Planning policy and strategic manager, Adrian Cooper, said the houses built by Shropshire Council would help retain people to live and work in the county.

“The market is fairly vibrant but the prices are being driven up by people who can afford to move here from elsewhere,” he said.

“We just want to try and balance it all up a bit.

“We can’t have a situation where local people can’t afford to live here and are forced to move somewhere else to live and work. It would be absolutely catastrophic.”

If the plan is agreed by cabinet, an outline business case will then be drafted up.

Councillor Robert Macey said homes could then be built as early as 2020.