Torbay: £230k for council to “focus on delivering new social housing”

Torbay Council has secured more than £230,000 in government funding to “speed up” the delivery of social housing and recruit permanent specialist staff, the authority has confirmed.

In a statement to the Torbay Weekly, the council said the £231,500 investment would be used to bolster its Housing Delivery teams and conduct a technical audit of “redundant” council-owned land.

The funding, drawn from the government’s Council Housebuilding Support Fund (CHSF), comes as a major £39bn national housing programme opens its doors this week.

The council confirmed it will prioritise small brownfield sites, previously developed land that is now vacant, to see if they can be repurposed for new homes.

A spokesperson for Torbay Council told the Torbay Weekly: “The funding also allows us to carry out a technical review of council assets, with priority given to small brownfield sites, to understand whether they could be repurposed for new homes.

“In addition, it will support the technical work and planning submission for a small infill scheme that will provide new social rented housing.”

The local authority intends to submit these sites to Homes England under the new Social and Affordable Homes Programme, which aims to deliver 300,000 homes nationally, with 60 per cent designated for social rent.

The council said the grant would be used to:

• Accelerate recruitment of two permanent specialist housing posts.
• Increase the capacity of the Affordable Housing teams.
• Identify new opportunities following progress made by the council since 2023.

“Successive governments have encouraged councils to restart the delivery of social housing since 2018,” the spokesperson added.

The council also pointed to completed projects such as Brampton House and the upcoming redevelopment of the former Seabury Hotel as evidence of the council's Accommodation Repurposing Programme.

For years, Torbay has grappled with a shortage of social stock and a growing reliance on temporary accommodation for local families.

By focusing on ‘infill’ sites and major regeneration projects, like the former Crossways Shopping Centre in Paignton, the council is attempting to meet housing targets while protecting the area's valued greenfield sites.

Crucially, new government flexibilities mean councils like Torbay can now manage up to 1,000 homes before facing the administrative burden of opening a Housing Revenue Account.

The council welcomed the broader package from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), which includes improved borrowing arrangements and updated Decent Homes Standards.

“This announcement offers valuable measures that can help us to speed up the delivery of much-needed affordable homes for local households,” the council stated.

The move is expected to reduce the number of families living in temporary accommodation by providing “good-quality, energy-efficient” alternatives within the bay.