Milestone reached in drive to provide hundreds more homes for district

The house, in the Paddocks development, Wickersley, will be a council house with a new tenant expected to move in before Christmas. The 500 homes have all been built or acquired since 2018.

Rotherham Council’s deputy leader, Councillor Sarah Allen, said: “Reaching the 500 home mark in the council’s pledge to create more affordable, high quality homes for residents has been an incredible journey for everyone involved, from our own members of staff to our contractors and private home builders to those who have made these properties their homes.

“We are grateful to Harron Homes for participating in the scheme and helping us reach this all-important milestone.

“We are proud we have been able to offer a range of properties including apartments, bungalows, and family homes either through social housing, private sale or shared ownership. I look forward to seeing the next 500 homes being built.”

Paul Walters, Harron Homes North Midlands sales manager, said: “It was an honour to celebrate this important milestone with Councillor Allen.

“Our teams dedicate themselves to delivering the highest quality in all areas and we are proud our homes can assist Rotherham Council in its goal of providing families with affordable housing. We look forward to continuing this relationship to support our local communities.”

Across the borough, the properties have been either built by council housing projects or been purchased through the council’s acquisitions programme from private developers.

Earlier in 2023, the council’s flagship housing developments in Rotherham town centre were completed with 171 new homes being made available for rent, shared-ownership or private purchase in Wellgate Place, Westgate Riverside and Millfold Rise.

Similar schemes are currently being developed or have been finished in areas such as Rawmarsh, Maltby, Broom, Dinnington and Treeton. In October, the council’s cabinet agreed to build 76 new council homes in Eastwood and Maltby.

Since January 2018 the council has acquired 100 properties from private developers, including 33 bungalows, 61 family homes (41 for rent, 20 for shared ownership) and six apartments.