Hounslow Council To Buy Back Former Council Housing

More than 500 homes to be acquired under new scheme


Hounslow's participation of the scheme is the biggest of any borough

Related links

Council Rejects Motion To Step Up Net Zero Plans

Residents Urged To Check Out New Ward Boundaries

Park Rangers To Be Employed in Local Parks

Hounslow Council's ShopLocal £20 Voucher Offer Extended

Hounslow Named as Council of the Year

Report Reveals Scale of Hounslow's Obesity Problem

Council Overwhelmed By Offers of Support for Afghan Refugees

Huge Rises in Allowances Planned for Hounslow Councillors

Sign up for email newsletters from BrentfordTW8.com, ChiswickW4.com

Hounslow Council is planning to bring back more that 555 homes into its ownership under a new scheme being launched by the Mayor of London.

Sadiq Khan’s Right to Buy-back scheme gives local authorities the opportunity to re-acquire homes some of which were previously sold under Right-to Buy.

Hounslow’s participation is the largest of any London borough and it will receive £38.7m from the Mayor’s Right to Buy-back fund which launched in July. Islington was the first borough to take advantage of the scheme, signing up in September. The fund gives boroughs and council-owned housing companies the ability to purchase homes from the open market. These homes can then either be let at social rent levels or used to prevent homelessness. The first families could be moving in by early January. All homes purchased through the Mayor’s Right to Buy-back fund must meet the Government’s Decent Homes Standard.

20 family-sized homes will be ringfenced for Afghan nationals who have been granted leave to resettle in the UK.

Hounslow will purchase a further 25 homes and convert these to social rented homes specifically for care leavers on the housing register. Councils have a duty of care to teenagers leaving the care system but unfortunately many still end up struggling to find accommodation. Nationally, one third of care leavers become homeless in the first two years immediately after they leave care. These homes and the support offered by the council as a Corporate Parent.

Hounslow says it is already on track to deliver their target of 618 new council homes through the Mayor’s Building Council Homes for Londoners programme, for which they have so far received over £35m in funding from the Mayor.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan said, “I am delighted that Hounslow has committed to bringing so many properties back into council ownership, providing good quality and genuinely affordable homes to more than 500 families.

“London has a wonderful tradition of helping those in need, and I’m proud that Hounslow is now stepping up to house Afghan refugees and vulnerable care leavers as part of this deal.

“Hounslow joins Islington in taking swift, bold action to help deliver the homes Londoners so desperately need. I’m hopeful that other boroughs will look to them and submit their own proposals. We also need to see ambition from Ministers to replicate the ‘Right to Buy-back’ scheme nationally, giving councils and housing associations the support they need to purchase much-needed homes.”

Leader of Hounslow Council, Councillor Steve Curran, said, “We are delighted to have received this allocation of funding from the Mayor’s Right to Buyback scheme; it will enable us to provide more council homes for those that need them. Some of these homes will give safety and security to care-leavers, and some to Afghan refugee families, who will be welcomed into our local communities."

Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More

This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism.

Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets.

We’ve always done that and won’t be changing, in fact we’d like to do more.

However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do.

We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area.

A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site.

One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute.

If you do support us in this way we’d be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor.

For businesses we offer the chDecember 26, 2021. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you’d like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site.

 

December 26, 2021

Bookmark and Share