Three new social homes are set to be built in Mansfield after a £310,000 conversion scheme was confirmed for a derelict former meeting room.
The scheme, at Bamford Drive on the Oak Tree estate, will see the disused building converted into three properties - a one three-bedroom house, a two-bedroom house and a one-bed bungalow.
The homes are among the first of 300 new council properties planned for the district over the next four years, including at least 100 new homes in an expansion of the council's Poppy Fields development for older people.
More than 70 properties are also under construction at the former Mansfield Brewery site, off Great Central Road, known as the Wise Living scheme.
Applications for these properties are expected to open soon, with a cluster of homes expected to be finished by the coming summer, while work is now underway on the three Oak Tree properties.
Councillor Marion Bradshaw, portfolio holder for housing, said: “It is fantastic news that work has begun on building additional affordable council housing in the district.
“The new local plan, which the council hopes to adopt later this year, says that the district needs 6,500 new homes by 2033. The council’s development programme will help this area to meet that target and it also aligns the council’s priorities for growth, place, aspiration and health and wellbeing.
“As this district has a higher-than-average proportion of people with disability, mobility and long-term health conditions, we are pleased that one of the homes in this particular scheme will be suitable for a wheelchair user.”
The £310,000 figure for the properties includes a £65,384 grant from Homes England, £75,000 in ring-fenced section 106 funds, and almost £60,000 combined from the Better Care Fund and a recycled capital grant.
This means Mansfield District Council will only spend £110,450 on the scheme.
The plans also state that the properties will be built under a "climate change agenda" while providing, where possible, construction work and employment for Mansfield residents.
