A £30 MILLION project to bring 211 affordable homes to the borough has been approved by Reading Borough Council.
They will be one- to four-bedroom homes, and built over the coming years, although 99 have yet to gain planning permission.
This includes 63 that would be built on the site of the former Central Swimming Pool site in Battle Street.
There are also proposals to build 36 homes in Hexham Road, with the council intending to demolish The Willows, a former specialist care site for people with dementia.
Of the 112 remaining homes, 31 would be one-bed flats, 29 would be two-bed, 28 would be three-bed, and three would be four-bedroom homes.
The council hopes to deliver all 211 homes by 2025.
Last week, during a debate on the council’s plans, Cllr Doug Creswell (Green, Katesgrove) questioned the size of the new homes the council is seeking to build.
Cllr Creswell said: “I know lots of thought would have gone into this, but we have a clear need for, as well as one- and two-bedroom dwellings, three- and four-bedroom dwellings.
“We have lots of residents who are struggling to keep their families in small dwellings.
“Could you tell us a bit about how we decide how large the dwellings we should build are?”
Strategic housing services manager Sarah Tapliss said not all sites the council aims to build on lend themselves to houses, with the land being better used as flats.
She added that there are high numbers of people who need one- and two-bed properties, as well as those who are looking to downsize.
The £29.6 million the council will invest is made up of £12.8 million from Section 106 developer contributions to affordable housing, £10.5 million of housing revenue acount (HRA) borrowing and £6.3 million from Right to Buy (RTB) receipts.
RTB allows tenants to buy and own the council home they live in, which was introduced in the Housing Act 1980.
Councils receive a proportion of the money a former tenant spends to buy their home.
However, councils can only use 40% of the money generated from the sale towards development or acquisition costs for new housing.
This restriction was lamented by councillors.
Cllr Glenn Dennis (Labour, Katesgrove) said: “I’ve got a little bug bear about the RTB receipts. We desperately need new homes in the country, so it frustrates me as to why this government ties up the RTB receipts in so much red tape?
“Why can’t those councils that are able to build use 100% of the RTB receipts to build new houses for rent?”
The council housebuilding project was unanimously agreed at a housing, neighbourhoods and communities committee meeting on Wednesday, November 9.
