By Cllr Jason Brock
Your Labour Council’s on-going drive to do everything it can to create more affordable homes in Reading continues apace.
Last month, planning approval was granted for 62 new homes on the former site of Central Pool, just off the Oxford Road. These new, affordable, Council homes will cater for those on the housing waiting list, as well as providing sheltered housing and homes for adults with additional care needs.
In a built-up, urban environment like Reading, opportunities for such large-scale projects are limited. The wide-open prairies of Wokingham or West Berkshire – presumably still inhabited by bison – aren’t available in Reading.
Sites in Reading are, of course, at a premium, which is why the Council has to be imaginative and innovative in identifying pockets of land for smaller sites.
In housing parlance, these are known as ‘infill sites’ and in Reading they include a former scout hut and various pockets of brownfield wasteland – all to be developed into Council homes for those who need them.
Tenants have recently moved into seven homes in Southcote, Whitley, and Church wards, with a further site in Caversham now close to finishing. They range from attractive 2-bed homes, including an accessible bungalow, up to a big 4-bed home with a large garden. We know that large family homes are particularly needed in Reading, so it is important we try to identify possible sites on which to build them – quite a challenge in a Borough like ours.
It would be easy to take shortcuts on quality and cost when building new Council homes. Our aspirations, though, are to build comfortable, high quality and energy-efficient new accommodation for our tenants. New Council homes today look and feel very different to the images those of us of a certain vintage may conjure when we think of Council housing.
Our local response to the climate emergency means all new homes are being built to what are known as Passivhaus principles in order to reduce their carbon footprint.
Triple glazing, air source heat pumps and solar panels are some of the techniques we use, and just one of the reasons Reading Borough Council was crowned Homebuilder of the Year at the 2021 UK Housing Awards.
Building energy efficient homes also ensures that bills are kept as low as possible for the residents who live there, which has never been more important.
Over in my home patch of Southcote, I’m also pleased that the former library building is set to be redeveloped for new affordable housing. Locals will remember that the old library was relocated into the Southcote Community Hub, a very short stroll away, back in 2018 as part of a Council project to provide a modern library, children’s centre, play area, and upgraded community facilities all on one site.
Since then, we had been trying to progress a deal with a local housing association partner for affordable housing.
We have now switched to transforming the site into the Council’s own housing stock in a project which could deliver up to 15 two-bed flats as part of a £3.8 million scheme for more new Council homes at Coronation Square.
Local councils like Reading have no influence on things like the high cost of land, private rental rates, or indeed national planning policies – the things that dictate house prices. What they can do is try to build as many affordable council homes as possible to make a difference in their local area, and I’m proud that is what we are doing in Reading.
When we pull all the various schemes for new Council homes across Reading together, it amounts to around 400 new affordable homes and an overall investment of £110 million over a five-year period up to 2026. This includes homes already delivered and those in the pipeline.
There are currently over 5,000 people on the Council’s waiting list in Reading. Every few years this list is reviewed with people asked to re-register if they still need to be on it. That review is due to take place shortly and, whatever the outcome, we can be certain that it will still be a very high figure, in common with most London boroughs and towns or cities in the south east.
We also know the figure would be even higher – as, indeed, it was in recent years – without the significant investment being made by Labour in new affordable homes for people in Reading.
