£2m to be spent on low-cost homes on Rhode Lane and in Sydenham, Bridgwater

Sedgemoor District Council is seeking to deliver a combined total of 47 new council properties across Bridgwater – 33 flats at Penlea House on Rhode Lane and 14 houses across four sites in the Sydenham area of the town.

The council has secured planning permission for both schemes, as well as funding from Homes England and commercial housing developments to ensure the new homes can be quickly delivered.

The full council is expected to agree on Thursday afternoon (February 24) more than £2m of additional funding be provided to ensure both schemes can proceed.

The rise in costs has been largely blamed on high inflation associated with supply chain issues which materialised during the coronavirus pandemic.

However, the council has also admitted the price has risen in part due to the designs being changed to create more “high-specification, energy-efficient homes”, in line with the climate emergency which was declared in 2019.

The Penlea House scheme – which was granted planning permission by the council’s development committee in January 2021 – will see 33 one- and two-bedroom flats provided to the north of Rhode Lane.

This scheme was originally budgeted to cost £5m, of which £1.35m was provided by Homes England and £210,000 from contributions from other, commercial housing developments.

Under the proposals, an additional £925,830 will be spent on delivering this scheme, bringing its total budget to just over £5.9m.

Nick Draper, the council’s housing development officer, said in his written report: “The project will provide high quality well-managed rented homes which will help the authority tackle the demand with more affordable homes.

“The project increases the supply of affordable housing during a period of acute demand associated with a larger than first thought Hinkley Point C construction workforce.

“It will help the authority reduce the incidences of homelessness across the district and the cost to the authority associated with providing temporary housing.”

The Sydenham garages housing scheme entails 14 houses being delivered across four Bridgwater sites – six homes across two sites on Avalon Road (for which planning permission was granted in November 2019), four homes on Chamberlin Avenue (permission granted in November 2019) and four homes on Saxon Green (permission granted in January 2021).

The council initially budgeted £2.9m for this scheme, with a tender of £2m for the construction phase being published on the BidStats tendering website in April 2021.

But to complete the scheme now, the council will have to borrow a further £1,288,030 – bringing the overall budget of the Sydenham scheme to nearly £4.2m.

Taken together, the budget increases amount to an additional £2,213,860 of public borrowing for the council.

Mr Draper added: “We have committed to developing new council housing as part of its aspiration to ensure housing need is met across the district.

“The schemes under consideration would be of great value to us and our tenants, but also make a clear statement of intent that we recognise the housing problems, are doing something about it, and that we want to lead the way with the use of modern methods of construction.”

Numerous housing and regeneration projects across Somerset have been hit by rising costs as a result of Brexit, the coronavirus and associated pressures.

Both the Coal Orchard regeneration in Taunton and elements of the Yeovil Refresh in Yeovil town centre have been put on hold following the collapse of Midas Construction in early February.

South Somerset District Council’s district executive committee recently voted to provide additional funding for a range of construction projects – including an extra £6M for the Octagon Theatre revamp, £1.7m for the Yeovil Refresh and £800,000 for improvements to Yeovil Crematorium.

Both increases to the Sedgemoor housing schemes are expected to be approved by the full council when it meets in Bridgwater on Thursday afternoon (February 24) to set its annual budget.

If approval is granted, construction on both schemes will begin later in the year, with all 47 new properties being completed by early 2024.