Bolsover District Council has set out an ambitious plan to deliver up to 400 new homes across the District over the next four years as part of its social housing building programme.

The home building initiative, called Bolsover Homes, forms part of Bolsover District Council’s Local Plan to achieve sustainable growth and create a prosperous and flourishing district.

The council awarded a contract to local contractor, Robert Woodhead Limited, through the EEM Framework.

It will see a new partnership formed to deliver the homes. The investment will inject in the region of £32m into the local economy.

The partnership will provide a collaborative approach to plan social housing to meet local needs, with a mix of house types for families, older people and people with additional needs.

The homes will be fit for the future, built to high sustainability standards, keeping bills low for tenants and reducing the carbon footprint of the District.

Commenting on the partnership, the leader of Bolsover District Council, Steve Fritchley, said “This new partnership is one of the biggest we have undertaken to date and signals our ambition to inject new life into the economy. By investing £32million it will help provide work for local companies and jobs for local people.

“The properties will provide new, high quality affordable social housing right across Bolsover District and they will be built to the Lifetime Homes standard. This will ensure they contain features to make them easily adaptable for people with mobility issues, meaning that homes can be adapted to accommodate people’s needs instead of people having to move to an adapted property as they do now.”

The first batch of homes are currently being planned and could start on site as soon as autumn 2020 with more in the pipeline in other locations right across Bolsover District.

Robert Woodhead has set a target to invest heavily in the local area by spending locally, sourcing 80% of sub-contractors within 20 miles of sites.

The Bolsover Homes programme has benefited from procurement input through EEM Ltd, a not-for-profit procurement consortium which aims to deliver best value for the public sector.

Glenn Slater, chief visionary officer at Robert Woodhead Ltd, said: “Its fantastic news to secure this long term programme with Bolsover District Council. They are a forward thinking local authority with a clear plan that has communities, the environment and the local economy at its heart.

“This is very much aligned with how we work.”

“It’s great that we can continue our relationship with Bolsover Homes for another 4 to 5 years, delivering much needed affordable homes for local people, by local people.”

A range of apprenticeship and training opportunities will be created. This includes a specific focus on providing opportunities for people not in education, employment or training (NEET) boosting skills and providing jobs across the district.