Affordable Homes Funding Gap Closed

Press Release

4 October 2011

A special development of new Homes will be built in Somerby after Melton Borough Council committed £87,000 from its reserve funds to prevent it failing. 

Melton Borough Councillors agreed to meet the shortfall in funding at a meeting on Thursday, plugging the gap left by significant changes in the way affordable homes are funded.  The new development of 7 affordable homes now only needs planning permission and with funding in place is likely to go ahead early next year. 

Melton Borough Council has been recognised as the 2nd best deliver of affordable homes in the east midlands and the 14th best authority nationwide.  A top priority for the Council, affordable homes are notoriously difficult to deliver. The scheme at Somerby had taken the Borough Council almost 7 years to crack and involved a strong partnership with Somerby Parish Council, the Rural Housing Enabler for Leicestershire and the Nottingham Community Housing Trust. 

Councillor Mark Barnes, Borough Councillor for Somerby said:

‘I’m delighted that we have taken the bold decision to stand by this scheme and effectively save it from failure.  Somerby needs these homes if local people are to remain in the village.  A lot of hard work has gone on to make sure the village has the right development that they want.  It looked like that hard work would all be in vain but this decision reinforces our commitment to the community, especially during a time of limited money. There has been a distinct lack of affordable housing happening in the parish areas.  We now need more of them to come forward and take a positive approach to delivering schemes.’

Harrinder Rai, Head of Communities and Neighbourhoods at Melton Borough Council said:

When it became clear that government funding was no longer available it was only we right that we consider what we could do to make the development happen.  We have invested a considerable amount of effort and resources to bring the scheme to completion and didn’t want that to be in vain.  Leicestershire County Council had kindly made funding available to reduce the gap and although we don’t enjoy the same level of funding it was only right that we look hard to close that gap.  The decision taken by my Members saves a project we feel very much the owners of together with our partners.’

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