Council-Owned Housing Company For Rother A Step Closer

Wednesday, 19 August 2020 14:16

By Huw Oxburgh, Local Democracy Reporter

Rother District Council has appointed board members to sit on its soon-to-be-formed local housing company.

On Tuesday (August 18), council members signed-off on proposals to formally create a local housing company, owned solely by the authority.

At the meeting, councillors John Barnes (Con), Charles Clark (Ind), Brian Drayson (Ind) and Richard Thomas (Lib Dem) were officially appointed to sit on the company’s board alongside four other non-elected members.

The company, which was approved in principle in December last year, is intended to become a vehicle for building 1,000 new homes in the district by 2035.

Local housing companies have already been established by councils across the country, including, amongst others, Hastings Borough Council.

As independent companies, they can develop, buy and manage properties in a way councils can’t, as they sit outside of regulations governing local government finances.

Unlike traditional council houses, the homes built by such companies are also exempt from the controversial Right to Buy scheme.

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