Billion-pound investment in Bristol's council housing

Proposals to invest a record £1.8 billion in council homes have been unveiled by Bristol City Council, that could see over 2,000 new council homes built in the next seven years.

The proposed investment forms part of a 30-year plan, recently presented t the city council cabinet, and represents the biggest proposed investment in council homes the city has seen in over a generation.

Tom Renhard, cabinet member for Housing Delivery and Homes, said: “We know we have a housing crisis in Bristol, and we want to be part of finding solutions. As part of our Big Housing Conversation we asked residents what they would like us to focus on. If our plans are approved, delivery of new council homes will be increased, through borrowing, to 2,069 over the next seven years. This will quadruple the current planned Housing Revenue Account development programme. The 30-year life of the plan will allow us to invest a total of £1.8 billion in new council homes – something we know the city needs and wants.

“Two-thirds of those who took part in the consultation were supportive of us increasing rents to be able to invest more. Government policy currently allows us to increase rents for the next financial year by 4.1 per cent – this would be an average of £3.34 a week extra for residents. This extra income will allow us to invest more in our existing homes, providing an additional £80 million for energy efficiency and carbon retrofitting measures by 2030 - to help us meet our ambitious climate change goals. This amount would bring committed funding to a total of £97 million for energy efficiency and carbon retrofitting measures, in addition to the £42 million that has been invested over the previous five years.”

Residents of the city were asked how the council should invest in council homes. The top three priorities identified by those who took part were: building much-needed new council homes; work to make Bristol City Council’s existing homes more energy efficient and carbon neutral; and work to improve the standards in Bristol City Council’s blocks, communal areas, and estates.