Torbay Council is getting on the with job of increasing the delivery of new affordable homes for local people.

We have pledged an extra £20million funding to deliver its ambition of an average of 75 high-quality homes a year.

We are already delivering new ‘council housing’ for social rent at two disused former hotels in Torquay under our pioneering ‘Hotels to Homes’ programme, the first of which will complete before Christmas 2025.

And a further scheme at the former St Kilda’s care home in Brixham will see 23 new homes built for older people, all for social rent.

The funding agreed earlier this year will support further ‘brownfield’ redevelopments and kick-start several more projects to achieve the ambitious target of many more homes for local people.

Reusing ‘brownfield’ sites in this way helps protect green fields from development and supports the regeneration of Torbay’s towns.

The schemes already under construction are the first new ‘council housing’ projects to be built directly by Torbay Council in a generation.

The funding pledge of an extra £20m of investment signals the step-change in housing delivery taking place in Torbay to tackle the housing crisis.

We are carrying out our Housing Delivery Plan to ensure there will be more good quality, affordable and permanent properties that people, including those who are vulnerable, or care experienced, can call their home. To do this, we are working with landlords and developers to maximise the use of suitable housing stock, including social housing, and create decent accommodation across Torbay.

We have demonstrated through our first schemes a commitment to working with local construction and development-industry partners and intends to replicate this wherever possible.

This helps to retain as much of the financial investment as possible within Torbay and helps support a strong and sustainable economy with a diverse mix of industries and jobs.

The new homes for social rent will be in addition to affordable housing delivered by private developers through planning agreements. They will help us supply homes for local families, as well as contribute towards meeting the Government’s national housing targets.

Our innovative strategy of ‘brownfield first’ is designed to prove that this type of scheme can be viably delivered in Torbay and minimise the need for building on precious edge-of-town ‘greenfield’ locations.

We have also committed to further accelerate the delivery of social housing by transforming disused sites such as former hotels, or redundant community or public sector land no longer suitable for the original use.

Creating new homes at these locations and on other infill sites stops them attracting anti-social behaviour and becoming a blight on the neighbourhood.

All the new homes developed by us will be available at social rent to households with a local connection to Torbay and will be allocated through Devon Home Choice.

The mix of social housing that will be provided includes:

• ‘extra-care’ homes for those with mobility needs
• homes for local key workers that support vital public services like the NHS
• homes for older people to encourage downsizing
• general needs social housing for families including children.

Our ‘Hotels to Homes’ scheme has already secured £3million of funding from the UK Government and £2million from the Devolution Deal for the new Devon and Torbay Combined County Authority. Grant funding has also now been secured for the first four schemes from Homes England’s Affordable Homes Programme.