Funding of around £1.7 million has been allocated by West Lancashire Borough Council to provide much-needed affordable homes for local people.



The cash injection will cover all the costs to construct or purchase properties that would be made available for rent through the Council or a social landlord.

Councillor Jenny Patterson, portfolio holder for housing, said:

“There is a need in West Lancashire for more affordable housing for local people. The Council has agreed that one of our priorities must be to provide more affordable housing to meet local needs and that is why we have earmarked this substantial amount of funding.”

“This project is at a very early stage and it’s not possible to say yet how many homes could be built, or where. We will focus on providing the types of property that are most needed in the area, in ways that provide the best possible value for money.”

The Council is currently looking for suitable sites and considering a number of possibilities, including working with a registered social landlord or developers on schemes that might provide a mixture of homes for rent and purchase.

The £1.7 million total includes around £500,000 income from the sale of council properties under the right-to-buy scheme, which would normally have had to be handed over to central government. The Council has provided £1.2 million match funding to ensure that the cash from council house sales can be retained in the borough

In addition to building some new homes, the Council is also considering buying a small number of properties which are currently for sale on the open market, to add to the Council’s housing stock for rent.