Over £23m to be invested in council housing across Chesterfield
More than £23 million is to be spent improving and increasing the housing supply across Chesterfield – as part of Chesterfield Borough Council’s commitment to enhance the borough’s housing offer and meet the needs of residents.
Councillors have agreed to the ambitious Housing Capital Programme – which sets out the council’s investment priorities for 2021/22 and the medium-term investment through to 2024/25.
The Housing Capital Programme sets out the priorities to ensure that council housing in the borough continues to meet the decent homes standard and provide the good quality, affordable homes for people in Chesterfield.
Modernisation and refurbishment of the council’s existing housing stock continues to be a main focus of the council’s programme of works – including roof repairs, the installation of windows and improvements to estate environments to ensure all properties continue to meet the decent homes standard.
Since 2019 the council will have added 64 new homes to its housing stock and a further 53 homes in the pipeline for 2021-2023, meaning the council will meet its target of adding new 100 new homes to the housing register by 2023 – giving local families more choice and access to modern properties.
The council will also continue to invest in homes for older people, with works currently progressing well at Mallard Court and Leander Court. When completed, this will offer modern, affordable and attractive housing for older people in Staveley for the future.
In response to the climate emergency that was declared by the council in July 2019, the council is also committed to ensuring that all of its homes are energy efficient – allowing Chesterfield to become a low carbon, resilient and sustainable borough.
Councillor Chris Ludlow, cabinet member for housing, said: “Our aim as always is to enhance Chesterfield’s housing offer so that people of all ages can find, and live in a quality home they can afford. Our capital programme shows that we are committed to improving our housing stock to ensure it meets the needs of the people of Chesterfield, as well actively contributing to the climate change agenda by ensuring all homes are energy efficient.
“Investing in affordable and social housing has never been as important, given the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has had on many people financially, so it is vital that we continue to enhance the borough’s housing needs and supply affordable living. Our programme of investment has been developed and amended to recognise the challenges which have arisen from the Covid-19 crisis and, together with our partners, we are doing all we can to ensure any minor delays to key projects are resolved, allowing us to achieve our goals.
“We are committed to building a sustainable future and in response to the climate change emergency declared by the council in 2019, we’re taking measures to ensure our homes are energy efficient – which will not only help the planet, but will also give our residents access to affordable warmth.”
“During 2020 – 21 we achieved some key milestones in improving our housing stock and we’re proud that 100 per cent of our properties meet the decent homes standards. By continuing to refurbish and modernise our homes and estates, we can continue to ensure we maintain these standards for local families.”
