£15m for rundown housing estates

8:48am Thursday 29th November 2007

Comments (0)   Have your say »

RUNDOWN housing estates in Basildon are set to be rejuvenated and made eco-friendly as part of a £30million Thames Gateway cash injection.

Half the money will be used for new housing and improvements to existing estates. Funding will also be used to make homes carbon neutral.

The funding will be handed to Basildon Council - which has three years to spend the cash - before the next round of Thames Gateway investment.

Estates set to be targeted first include Ryedene, where pupils at the local primary school celebrated the financial boost yesterday. The Felmores estate could also be included.

Basildon Tory council leader Malcolm Buckley, welcomed the funding and said he would now be looking at which areas to focus on first.

He said: "Much of the money can go towards estate renewal.

"We have seen successful regeneration on the Five Links estate in Laindon. Projects are also getting under way at Craylands, which will see £250million investment, and the Vange 3/4 estate, where £13million is being spent.

"We know there are several other estates in needed of renewal, particularly Felmores and Rydene, but others could follow."

Mr Buckley said it is not clear if future refurbishments will involve demolition and rebuilding, like the current projects at Five Links, Craylands and Royal Court.

He added: "This is what will be assessed next. We will work with partner agencies to see which would be more suitable and where we need to focus first.

"The money announced at the forum will be catalyst money to carry out consultations and hire expert legal and business advice.

"This in turn will help lure the private investment we need for the projects. We had public funding of around £25million to start the Craylands regeneration, but the overall spend - including the private sector - will be around £250million."

The Government predicts its £15.1million grant towards housing will attract £150million of private money. The council believes this will double because of regeneration works in Wickford, Laindon and Pitsea.

The latest funds will also be used to create more shared ownership housing schemes, allowing young, low-income families to get on the property ladder.

Stephen Horgan, Tory councillor responsible for regeneration, said: "We will work alongside housing associations to try and increase the amount of housing. This is shared ownership schemes."

Housing Association Circle Anglia has just opened 12 flats in Hazlemere Road, Wickford, for families on combined incomes of £18,000. These have all gone to people from the town.

The firm is opening more on the Vange 3/4 estate.

Mr Horgan said: "We would like to see more of these schemes, giving more people a chance to own at least some of their property."