Council lets 1000th Building a Better Nottingham home

Nottingham City Council has let the 1,000th new home built under the council housing element of its Building a Better Nottingham programme.

Building a Better Nottingham was launched in 2013 by Nottingham City Council in partnership with Nottingham City Homes, then the council’s arm’s length management organisation (ALMO) for housing. The programme aimed to replace outdated social housing across the city with energy efficient, quality housing for Nottingham people who needed a home and were on the housing register (the waiting list).  

Since 2013, new council homes have been built under the Building a Better Nottingham programme in 17 of the city’s 20 electoral wards. 
2015 and 2016 saw completion of new council homes under Building a Better Nottingham across the city in areas such as Broxtowe, Bestwood, Clifton, Top Valley, Aspley and Sneinton. Awards followed, including from the Considerate Constructors scheme and the UK Housing Awards.

The city’s first major housing regeneration scheme in a generation followed, changing the city’s skyline forever. Five tower blocks were demolished in Lenton, and were replaced with 142 new affordable homes including the award-winning Palmer Court independent living community.

Smaller sites continued to progress, including six bungalows and 33 houses at the site of the former Morley School in St Ann’s, 37 one-bed apartments for older people in Strelley, and eight family homes in Sneinton.  

In 2021, work began on more major developments, this time in Bestwood. The Beckhampton site comprises 129 two- and three-bedroom houses, bungalows, and flats, and Eastglade, built on the site of the former Eastglade School has 106 new council homes, all of which are now let.  

Cllr Jay Hayes, Portfolio Holder for Housing, said: “This is a major milestone for social housing in Nottingham. The city has always been proud of its housing provision; at one time, one fifth of every household in the city lived in a council home.

“These new homes, built under the Building a Better Nottingham banner, replace housing lost through Right to Buy. They are places that people can be proud to call home - attractive, spacious, energy efficient and safe, as well as being affordable.

“We’re bringing more new developments forward all the time, and I look forward to seeing these new communities we’re creating flourishing and growing in years to come”.