A SOCIAL housing provider has secured £2.3 million funding by HCA to provide low cost homes across the district.

Incommunities has received the grant as part of the Homes and Communities Agency’s (HCA) latest Shared Ownership and Affordable Homes programme.

The scheme will include 69 family-sized homes at sites in Bolton Woods, Shipley, Saltaire and Idle. Work is expected to start within the next 12 months.

No further details of the number of bedrooms for the homes, or their exact location within the areas, is available.

The homes will be released as a mix of shared ownership and rent-to-buy homes which are designed to get more people onto the housing ladder.

Geraldine Howley, Incommunities’ group chief executive, hailed her group securing the cash.

She said: “This approval for our latest new build programme by the HCA is terrific news.

“Over the last eight years we have delivered more than 700 new affordable homes for local people and provided a significant boost for our local communities.

“This new funding will enable us to deliver more homes and offer local people different tenures.

“A big well done to our in-house development team on securing this money and continuing to take a proactive approach to working with funders and developers.”

Last year, Incommunities finished work on 86 new homes and is also on site, or about to start, work on a further 99 homes in Bradford and Huddersfield.

Jez Lester, Incommunities’ assistant chief executive, asset management, said: “We are delighted that our bid to the HCA was approved in full.

“We now plan to hit the ground running to deliver these new homes that meet a variety of needs and, at the same time, regenerate former housing and brownfield sites.”

Rob Pearson, general manager for the north east, Yorkshire and the Humber at HCA, said: “This new allocation for Incommunities is part of the Government’s commitment to increase housing supply and halt the decline in affordability.

“Our funding will improve housing choice for people in Bradford and support Incommunities’ very successful record of delivering more affordable homes for local people.”

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