Council to sell three plots of land for £2million below market value to pave way for 160 affordable homes

Three plots of land are to be sold by Bolton Council at more than £2M below market value to enable affordable homes to be built. Last week, the authority agreed to sell land assets they own to two social housing providers, Bolton at Home and Great Places, who plan to build 160 homes.

89 new homes are set to be built on Roxalina Street in Great Lever by Great Places, with the same housing provider set to construct 27 homes at a site on Cotton Street and Wordsworth Street in Halliwell. Bolton at Home plan a new estate of 44 houses at Eskrick Street.

A report published by the council and agreed by the cabinet member for regulatory services and property, Coun Sue Haworth, said that two of the sites, have been identified as being eligible for Greater Manchester Combined Authority brownfield funding grants.

The brownfield grant relating to the Cotton Street development is £405,000 and for the Roxalina Street site £1.18M. This funding is required to be spent by April 2024 otherwise it will be removed and re-allocated to another part of Greater Manchester.

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The land at Eskrick Street qualifies for Homes England grant funding in the sum of £2,332,000. The report, said: “This equates to a total close to £4 million of external funding, that would be reallocated outside Bolton if the developments do not proceed.”

The report said the market value of the Roxalina Street site was £2.45M and a offer of £1,050,000 had been received from Great Places, £1.4M less than the market value figure. For the Eskrick Street site an offer of £175,000 has been received from Bolton at Home, £310,000 less