By Jason Lewis, Local Democracy Reporter

Civic leaders have faced criticism for using a housing association to build new properties on land at Townhill Park which was home to council flats.

 

 

 

The Green Party said Southampton needed affordable council-owned housing.

Councillor Sam Pryce (Green, Freemantle) said Labour’s decision to award another plot for the Townhill Park regeneration project to Sovereign Network Group (SNG) was “not a win to be celebrated”.

The Labour administration’s housing lead said the city could not afford a “narrow or ideological approach” to providing new homes.

Southampton City Council recently announced the appointment of SNG to build family homes on the site in Copse Road and Longmead Road.

Land at Copse Road and Longmead Road, Townhill Park, which the council has labelled plot 10. Photo: LDRS

Councillor Sam Pryce, Green Party spokesperson for housing, said: “At the same time as the council chooses to sell its own stock of housing, it’s moving away from building its own houses to begin with.

“Southampton & District Green Party are clear that what this city needs is affordable, well-managed council-owned housing.

“Moving this project into private hands, even if that private entity is a housing association, is not an acceptable compromise.

“If we were in power we would be looking to build as many council-owned houses as possible, and acknowledging that private and housing association houses are a compromise we may sometimes have to make, not a win to be celebrated.”

Sally Goodfellow, Labour councillor responsible for housing, said homes provided by SNG will be affordable and available to people on the council’s housing register, along with shared ownership properties.

SNG was already working on plans to build around 170 affordable homes at Townhill Park in Rowlands Walk and on land bordered by Meggeson Avenue, Townhill Way, Paulet Close and Cutbush Lane.

In the past two years, the council has also appointed housing provider Abri to bring forward housing on two other plots in the wider regeneration project.

Cllr Goodfellow said: “Our priority is to deliver the homes Southampton needs and to do that in a way that supports the wider ambitions we have set out for the city.

“Through our housing strategy, our growth and prosperity plan and our housing improvement plan, we have been clear that we want more affordable homes, better quality housing, stronger communities and a housing service residents can have confidence in.

“That means being focused on delivery, not rhetoric.”

Labour wanted to see more council housing, but the authority had to be honest about its financial and practical challenges, Cllr Goodfellow said.

The cabinet member added: “If working with trusted partners helps us bring forward more genuinely affordable homes, regenerate sites and meet housing need more quickly, then that is the responsible thing to do.

“Southampton cannot afford a narrow or ideological approach to housing.

“Our ambition is clear: more affordable homes, better standards, and a stronger housing system that supports both residents and the city’s future growth and prosperity.”

In reference to selling council houses, Cllr Goodfellow said only five properties were going to auction.

She said they were all in an unrepairable state, did not meet the authority’s decent homes programme and were at the end of their life so should have been dealt with years ago.

Previously
Provider appointed to deliver Townhill Park family affordable homes