MORE THAN 500 new affordable homes will be built across the Bradford district thanks to grants totalling £12m.

The funding, including £7m for Incommunities and £5m for Bradford Council, was announced yesterday by the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) as part of its Affordable Homes Programme.

Bradford Council will build 241 homes with its share of the money, while Incommunities will construct 264.

The properties being built by the Council, which will be for sale and rent, have been earmarked for brownfield sites in six wards across the district over the next three years and should be ready by spring 2018.

There will be a mixture of one, two and three-bedroomed homes, as well as Extra Care properties, according to Councillor Val Slater.

Cllr Slater, Executive Member for Housing, Planning and Transport, said: "This is great news. When completed these new houses will provide much needed affordable homes for the people of Bradford.

"We hope that these properties will, in addition to those being developed by our partners, play a part in addressing the serious housing problems facing many individuals and families in the district."

Cllr Slater said the priority for housing mirrored a national trend, in that single people and young couples were most in need.

Keighley West will get the most homes, with 127 set to be built - 37 on Braithwaite Road and 90 on the Bronte School site in Oakworth, of which half will be Extra Care apartments.

There will be 35 houses built in Cliffe Lane West, Baildon, available for sale and rent.

In Bowling and Barkerend, on New Otley Road and Avenham Way, there will be 19 properties for rent, while on Ripley Street in Little Horton there will be 15 for rent, while 25 homes for rent will be erected in Royds, on Reevy Road, Buttershaw, while Livingstone Road in Windhill and Wrose ward will get 20 houses.

A Council spokesman said: "The programme will have a value of £34 million and will be developed over the next three years with all properties ready by spring 2018."

Speaking on the Bowling and Barkerend housing boost, Cllr Hassan Uzzaman Khan (Lab, Bowling and Barkerend) said: "There are lots of complaints about overcrowding in this area, so it will help."

Cllr Simon Cooke (Con, Bingley Rural) said: "I am delighted that the HCA and central government continue to support the development of affordable housing in Bradford."

Meanwhile, the new homes being built by Incommunities will cover 24 locations around the district and involve the regeneration of former housing sites. They include sites at Bolton Woods, Shipley, Fagley, Idle, Ravenscliffe, Little Horton and Bingley.

The investment will support new phases of housing at Green Lane in Manningham.

Geraldine Howley, Incommunities Group Chief Executive said: “This approval for our latest new build programme by the Homes and Communities Agency is terrific news.

“To date we have delivered over 500 new homes, many for social rent. This new grant funding means over £30 million will go into providing more much needed affordable housing for local people and provide a significant boost for our local communities.”