Building target for new council homes in Rotherham expected to be broken this year

Councillors have been told the following three months will see “a significant increase” when figures come through, followed by the “majority” of the quota becoming available in the third quarter.

Rotherham Council has become one of the most productive local authorities in the country for building new homes to replenish its housing stock and last year exceeded the target it set for itself.

This year’s objective is to create 175 new homes, either through the council or its partners’ building projects and despite the slow start it appears the authority is on target to beat that figure.

A question over the availability of the new homes was raised during a scrutiny meeting, where councillors have the chance to probe the authority’s performance.

Council officer Tom Bell said: “We developed a target from assessing sites we are working on or working with other organisations to deliver these homes.

“We understand the homes that are going to be built and when they are going to build them.

“We are projecting that into the next quarter we will see a significant increase.

“We are monitoring these sites on a monthly basis to ensure we can forecast any problems and mitigate them.

“What we are projecting is that we will exceed the target this year as we did last year.”

Sites nearing completion include a development on Bellows Road in Rawmarsh, where the council is about to receive the handover of “a significant number of units”.