More than 1,000 council homes to be built by 2029

One of the development sites at Newstead

More than 1,000 council homes will be built or acquired in the next five years to increase the number of properties available in Sheffield.

As the council continues to face an unprecedented demand for affordable and social housing in the city, this will help to meet some of that demand.

To meet that challenge, £255m has been set aside for acquisitions and new builds in 2024/25. This adds to £28m already allocated for 2023/24, meaning £283m in total being spent.

The Council is also looking to secure significant Government funding through our partnership with Homes England and the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA).

Included in this will be:

• Around 147 residential homes to be built on two sites at Newstead, next to Birley Moor Road – with work due to begin on the south of the site in the next six months and the north of the site in the next 12 months, following submission of revised plans
• 36 new apartments at Bole Hill View, in the North West of the City – with work due to commence in the next nine months
• An additional 275 homes to be built across the city before 2029
• Some 417 general and strategic acquisitions of properties to add to our stock by 2029
• Working closely with our Housing Associations (Registered Providers) to increase their supply of new affordable homes for rent - working together to reduce all forms of homelessness
• This adds to 137 new homes delivered during 2023/24

The plan to build and acquire these 1,012 homes is an ambitious one to increase our council housing stock. Work continues across the council to increase people’s choice of homes. This also helps create local jobs and training opportunities as part of the Council’s procurement arrangements.

WATCH: Council Leader Cllr Tom Hunt welcomes the announcement:

The Council’s Strategy and Resources Committee has now approved proposals within the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Business Plan that see us continue our ambitious Stock Increase Programme (SIP). A combination of new builds and purchased properties, as outlined in the newly agreed 2024/2025 Capital Strategy, will see our stock rise by the year 2029.

Cllr Tom Hunt, Leader of Sheffield City Council, said:

“We want everyone to have access to a secure, stable home in great neighbourhoods. Good quality housing is essential to enable people to thrive.

“We are committed to increasing the supply of new, affordable homes in our city and over the next five years we will be bringing forward more than 1,000 new council homes. We will build new council homes and find properties that can be purchased. This will help us to increase our council housing stock and enable more people to have good, affordable housing while relieving what is unprecedented levels of demand on our current stock.

“Sheffield is a growing city and we know we need to build new homes of all types to meet the needs of a growing population. We will work with partners in the public and private sector to make this happen and there is a lot of work taking place to increase housing growth in our city.”

We are utilising our sites to accelerate affordable housing delivery by working in partnership with Housing Associations. This includes looking at more than 130 further potential sites of development alongside our partners over the coming year as part of our Housing Growth Delivery Plan. This could increase our council housing stock further.

We will also be working with partners to identify properties for use as social or affordable rent homes across the city. In 2024/25 we will bringing forward 15 to 20 sites across the city, that have the capacity to deliver in the region of 600 homes.

Our aim, as always, remains to provide more choice of good quality and affordable homes for current residents and those who choose to live and work here in the future. The timing for the delivery of these homes delivered outside the Council will be subject to the delivery programme of the providers that acquire the sites. Therefore, dates of completion cannot be given at this stage.  

This SIP ensures we are building new, environmentally-friendly council properties where we know there is high demand for affordable housing.