New houses planned to keep homeless out of hotels
GoogleNew housing could be built on council-owned land in a bid to reduce costs incurred by housing homeless people in hotels.
Fenland District Council said at any one time it was paying for about 30 households to stay in hotels, because there was nowhere else for them to go.
It has now put forward plans for 12 homes to be built on land it owns in Grounds Avenue in March, Cambridgeshire.
The council said it hoped the project would ultimately help save the council about £188,000 a year.
It said there were currently not many options for families facing homelessness in the area it covers.
At a meeting on Monday, the council's cabinet agreed to move forward with plans to redevelop the plot of land in Grounds Avenue.
This would involve commissioning a company to develop the land, and agreeing to lease the land for 125 years to a registered housing provider, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.
Sam Hoy, the council's portfolio holder for housing, said: "This proposal is another example of the council taking proactive action to reduce the number of homeless households who live in hotels and in doing so reduce revenue costs on the council's statutory responsibilities to address homelessness."
She said hotel accommodation was "not housing benefit compliant and this places significant additional pressure on our finances, but also is not a good option for the households we are helping".
The council hopes the new homes will be built by October 2026.
Ms Hoy added there was a risk cost to the council of about £92,000, which she said was the planning cost that would be refunded if approval for the project was granted.
She added: "It is a good deal for the council and it significantly reduces reliance on expensive temporary accommodation that is not subsidy compliant."
Addressing a concern that the homes might be used for asylum seeker accommodation, Ms Hoy said it would be for "local housing need".
Follow Cambridgeshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.