Over £1 million to fund temporary accommodation in Torridge

They will be at East-the-Water

Over £1 million of government funding to reduce housing pressures in Torridge is being been used to purchase five properties at East-the-Water, Bideford.

The houses at the Devonshire Homes site at The Grange were considered by Torridge District Council’s estates team to be “the best value for money” of all the new developments in the area.

They ranged from £202,000 to £240,000 after a discount was secured and each have two or three bedrooms.

These, together with a four-bed property bought a year ago for renovation in Appledore, will go into the council’s housing stock.

Four of the newbuilds will become temporary accommodation straight away and the other one and the renovation will be used initially for a government-led resettlement scheme for vulnerable refugees and be available to local residents at a later date.

The council received £945,000 from Round 3 of the Local Authority Housing Fund (LAHF) and an additional £21,000 per property.

The total price tag of the homes is £1,147,000, which means the authority will have to add £18,000 from its reserves.

TDC’s head of legal and governance Staci Dorey said unlike previous rounds of the fund, this time authorities don’y have to match the government grant.

She said as the five properties are newbuilds they would not need maintenance work for the foreseeable future.

One property will be available this month, and the other four in September.