* An example of the affordable homes built in the last five years.
More
than 1,000 additional homes have been created or brought back into use in the
past five years in Denbighshire - with 23 of these in Llangollen.
Denbighshire
County Council has helped deliver 394 affordable homes, worked in partnership
to develop two extra care facilities providing more than 100 homes, delivered
34 additional council homes while 695 empty homes in the private sector have
been brought back into use.
Additional
properties have been provided in communities right across Denbighshire -
including Llangollen, Rhyl, Prestatyn, Dyserth, Rhuddlan, Cefn Meiriadog, Trefnant,
Meliden, Denbigh, Ruthin, Gellifor, Llanfair Dyffryn Clwyd, Corwen
and Llandrillo – including the first brand new council homes to be designed and
built for the Denbighshire area in 30 years.
Below is a breakdown of the homes created in Llangollen since 2017:
Year | Units | Tenure | Provider |
2017-18 | 1 | Intermediate Rental | Grŵp Cynefin |
| 12 | Social Rent (RSL) | Grŵp Cynefin |
| 1 | Council Buy Back | DCC |
2018-19 | Nil | | |
2019- 20 | 5 | Intermediate Rental | North Wales Housing |
2020 – 21 | 2 | Supported Accommodation | DCC/Wales & West |
2021- 22 | 2 | Intermediate Rental | North Wales Housing |
Total | 23 | | |
The council’s work was carried out under the Housing priority as part of its
Corporate Plan 2017-2022, which set the direction and ambitions for the
authority for the past five years.
Cllr
Tony Thomas, Lead Member for Housing and Communities, said: “The council has carried out a wide range of work on improving and creating housing
for the needs of our residents.
“We
set ourselves ambitious targets under our housing priority and we have exceeded
many of these, helping to ensure there are more homes across the county for our
residents.
“As
a council we recognise the need to ensure housing is available to meet the needs
of Denbighshire residents, and affordable housing is an essential part of this,
so we can retain and attract young people to live in the area.
“The
affordable housing created is a mix of social housing, intermediate rental, and
home ownership through shared equity, rent to own options and private
developments.”
Two
extra care facilities have been developed in partnership with Grwp Cynefin at
Awel y Dyffryn, Denbigh, opening in February this year, and Llys Awelon,
Ruthin, due to open next year.
These
developments will see 70 extra self-contained homes in Denbigh and 35 in Ruthin
which give residents a balance between living at home and having on-site,
dedicated care available if needed.
A
total of 34 additional council homes have been delivered since 2017 and this
includes new builds, conversions and the purchase of properties.
Further
developments of new energy-efficient council homes are underway in Denbigh,
Dyserth and Prestatyn with 45 new properties due to be completed this year,
with work starting on a further 59 new council homes during 2022.
The council has made a number of improvements to the homes of council tenants which
includes installing 1,100 new heating systems, 465 new roofs, 325 new windows,
125 air source heat pumps, 775 kitchens and bathrooms while 2,550 properties
have also been externally painted.
Nearly
£2million has been invested on neighbourhood improvements for council tenants,
including 17 new play areas.
Other
work as part of the housing priority included the successful resettlement of 20
Syrian families under the UK Resettlement Scheme.
The council has contacted owners of empty homes and helped encourage renovation or
matched them with developers, with a view to bringing them back into use on the
housing market.
A
total of 695 empty homes have been brought back into use to date, exceeding the council’s target of 500 between 2017 and 2022.
The council has launched its Housing & Homelessness Strategy to co-ordinate its
work to ensure everyone is supported with pride to live in homes that meet
their needs and to end homelessness in Denbighshire.
The
aims of the strategy include providing more housing, ensuring housing is of
good quality, supporting people with their housing issues, addressing
homelessness and supporting communities.
This
includes developing our approach to homelessness by providing even more of our
own emergency and temporary accommodation with onsite support and renewing the
focus on early intervention to prevent homelessness, with a model of rapid
rehousing at its heart.
Cllr
Julian Thompson-Hill, Lead Member for Finance, Performance and Strategic
Assets, said: “Supporting the creation of so many new homes has taken a
considerable amount of work to achieve and has involved sound financial
planning.
"We have taken advantage of a wide range of funding grants and
affordable homes have been built by private developers and in partnership with
Welsh Government and registered social landlords, with the Council managing the
Social Housing Grant programme, which has enabled the building of the majority
of affordable homes in the county.
“We
will be continuing to build on this success and provide more affordable homes
in our communities which is part of our ongoing work to retain more young
people in Denbighshire as well as ensuring there is adequate housing for the
needs of all our residents.”
* You can find out more about
the Corporate Plan 2017-2022 here www.denbighshire.gov.uk/corporate-plan-ambition-achievements
