A BLOCK of 46 garages could soon be demolished to make way for council homes.

The application for Victoria Road, Laindon, is the latest in Basildon Council’s ambitious housebuilding project where the authority borrowed, and invested, £10.6million.

The plans will see the garages replaced with four, two-bedroom houses, plus a seven-space parking area.

So far, the council has earmarked sites for 500 council homes, mainly on unused land and the site of derelict garages and buildings across the borough.

Council leader Phil Turner is excited about the wide-reaching project.

He said: “These are Basildon homes for Basildon people. We have been talking about this for some time and it’s finally becoming a reality.

“We want to change people’s perception of what council houses are. The quality of these properties will be as good as homes on the open market. We can’t wait for the first few to be built.”

Thirty four of the Victoria Road garages are vacant.

Negotiations are under waywith the owners of the remaining 12 garages.

Meanwhile, work is set to start soon on four, two-bed homes in Quendon Road, on the Fryerns estate, Basildon.

Twenty eight garages in Rettendon Gardens, Wickford, are set to be knocked down and replaced with homes in the second phase of the housebuilding project.

Overall the project, which saw the council set up its own housebuilding company Sempra Homes late last year, is hoped to make a £5.1million return over the next 15 years. Mr Turner added: “By redeveloping existing sites, we’re improving the appearance of rundown areas.

“We can’t build all 500 council houses at once, but we can gradually start to get people off the waiting list. We need to do a full public consultation with residents too.”

The council’s cross-party planning committee will decide on the Victoria Road application by the end of October.

New rules have slashed homes waiting list

TWO months ago, the Echo revealed Basildon’s housing waiting list had been slashed by more than half after tough “seven years here” rules were brought in.

Despite 7,000 online applications for home since October 2014, there are currently just 1,825 households on the list.

The new Localism Act means Basildon Council has imposed strict restrictions on who can receive housing.

Applicants now have to be aged 18 or over and to have lived in the borough for at least seven years.

Of the 7,000 latest applications, 2,000 households did not meet the criteria.

Another 2,800 passed initial assessment, but did not submit further documents to support their application.

Just 467 have been housed during this period.

Exceptions to the seven-year rule include people who have been declared as statutory homeless and those who can demonstrate they need to move to the borough to receive special care or support.

People who have served in the Armed Forces can also apply without meeting the residency rule.

Those with “unacceptable behaviour”, such as significant rent arrears or a track record of antisocial behaviour or fraud, can be disqualified from the list.