Preston set to get first council homes in 20 years

Preston is poised to get its first council houses in more than 20 years with new-build properties in the north of the city being lined up for purchase.

Preston City Council has made a conditional offer on 19 yet-to-be-constructed homes, which could see the Labour-run authority return to providing housing directly to some of its residents.

The properties would be a mix of family houses and apartments, offered as social rent – which means occupants typically pay between 50 and 60% of full local market rates.

The exact location where the homes are to be built has yet to be made public.

The city council said the homes were at an early stage of construction and were expected to be completed between November 2026 and April 2028.

It could be the fulfillment of a long-held ambition first mooted two years ago when the city council agreed to enter into a partnership with Onward Homes as part of the housing provider's proposed development of 380 homes on the site of the former Horrocks Mill.

It was intended that the local authority would initially purchase up to 20 of those properties as part of a first wave of new-generation council housing with the aim being for it to eventually have "hundreds" of town hall-owned homes on its books.

However, the broader Horrocks Mill development, off Queen Street, was yet to get off the ground, more than two years after it was granted planning permission.

However, it is understood that the plot would still be explored as part of the council's longer-term plans.

Council leader Matthew Brown said the authority had long been keen to "own quality, affordable housing again in the city" – citing the shift as "another way to help tackle the shortage of quality, social-rented, affordable homes available to Preston residents".

The authority said demand for social and affordable-rented homes was high in Preston, where there were long waiting lists and an increasing reliance by the council on the use of temporary accommodation to meet residents' needs.

The number of households in that situation more than doubled from 80 to 195 between 2019 and 2023, the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

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