More than 30 Crawley families set to move into new council homes after completion of key phase of Forge Wood development
More than 30 Crawley families will soon move into their new council homes after a key phase of the Forge Wood development was completed.
The borough council has acquired 43 of the homes, with 33 to be managed by Crawley Homes and used for social rent, while the other ten will be used as temporary accommodation for those in need.
The news was announced by Ian Irvine, cabinet member for housing, during a meeting of the full council on Wednesday, October 21.
Mr Irvine said the first tenants should be moving in within the coming weeks. But, with 2,155 people on the housing waiting list and more than 600 households living in temporary accommodation, he added that there was ‘still a long way to go’.
The council declared a housing emergency in 2024 after the homelessness problem grew so much that the cost of temporary accommodation rose to more than £5.7 million and accounted for one pound in every three of the council’s budget.
Atif Nawaz, cabinet member for planning and economic development, announced that the building of the neighbourhood’s shops had been completed and some of the leases picked up.
The shops are not owned by the council and he could give no opening date, though he hoped it would be soon.