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Council house building is set to continue in Kirklees thanks to a successful bid for funding from the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA).

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Kirklees Council Cabinet has authorised officers to submit a planning application for a second phase of new council house building, following a previous scheme to build new homes in Heckmondwike.

Kirklees Council Homes and Neighbourhoods has made a successful bid to the HCA for over £600,000 grant funding. The funding will be used to help build 12 new three bedroom family homes on Sixth Avenue, Windy Bank, Liversedge.

The new council houses will be managed by Kirklees Neighbourhood Housing. If the planning application is successful the council aims to start the build on site early 2011, with the new houses being available to rent from Autumn 2011.

The plan is to build all the houses on council-owned land, keeping development costs to a minimum and helping to making the homes more affordable for tenants.

This approach is part of the council’s drive to increase the delivery of much needed affordable new family homes to rent across Kirklees. There has been considerable private development in the local area recently - of the 80 properties built around two thirds have been for open market sale and low cost home ownership, the remainder being provided by Housing Associations for social rented properties.

The need for new affordable housing has been identified through the Kirklees Local Housing Assessment (LHA) and the Kirklees Housing Register which highlights the need for family housing.

Funding for the £1.3 million project will come from a combination of borrowing and grant monies provided by the HCA.

Leader of the council, Cllr Mehboob Khan, said: “I am delighted that we have the opportunity to look at various ways of providing affordable family homes to Kirklees residents given the current economic climate. We have already started our consultation work with the local residents in Windybank where we held an open consultation event with the local community to further explain the scheme and invite queries. Comments will be considered as part of the planning application process.”

Cllr Shabir Pandor said: “Windbybank Estate is popular with over 100 Choose ’n ’Move bids per property when they become available. Generally there are only two or three empty properties on the estate at any one time. The work is at a very early stage and there is some way to go but this is a real opportunity to make a difference. The council is working with the HCA to look at further opportunities for future funding.”