Bath & North East Somerset Council’s latest social homes have been completed, with the site on the Lower Bristol Road soon to be occupied.
Councillor Matt McCabe with Sally Higham | Photo © B&NES Council
The Argyle Works site, formerly the council’s Highways Maintenance Depot, has been developed to provide eight affordable, energy-efficient apartments to help meet increasing demand for low-cost social housing.
Social housing, which is good quality affordable housing for residents who are unable to compete on the open market, represents 14% of the housing stock in Bath and North East Somerset, lower than the national average of 17%.
The Argyle Works development is part of the local authority’s affordable housing programme, which directly delivers housing by developing existing council properties and surplus land.
The £12 million B&NES Homes programme will provide 58 general needs council houses.
Three of the new homes will be prioritised for use by the council’s Children Young People and Families team, and are likely to house Care Experienced Young People aged 16 to 25, a group that can face challenges in finding suitable accommodation.
Councillor Matt McCabe, cabinet member for built environment and sustainable development, said: “I am so impressed with these new properties, and my thanks go out to all the contractors who’ve contributed to such an excellent finish.
“These will soon be new homes for our residents, allowing us to boost the supply of much-needed, good-quality affordable housing in Bath and North East Somerset.
“The apartments will be owned directly by the council and secured in perpetuity as 100% affordable housing for social rent.
“Our recently adopted housing plan outlines our commitment to ensuring that residents have access to affordable, safe and high-quality homes and adding these eight apartments to our stock of housing for social rent enables us to directly improve those people’s lives – supporting the council’s overarching goal.”
The properties were delivered in partnership with Aequus Construction Ltd (ACL), the council’s wholly owned development company, and include three one-bedroom apartments and five two-bedroom duplexes.
They will be owned and managed by Bath & North East Somerset Council, and three of the units will be set aside for the young people.
Sally Higham, Chair of Aequus Group of Companies, said: “These properties represent the first newly constructed affordable homes delivered for the council.
“Built to meet high sustainability levels and in line with national space standards, we are pleased to have completed this project as we continue to support the council to meet its aspirations for more affordable housing in B&NES”
The land was unlocked with financial support from the Brownfield Land Release Fund as well as Affordable Homes Programme funding from Homes England.
Paul Britton, SW Lead for the Brownfield Land Release Fund, said: “Our funding is all about unlocking small council-owned sites across the country. It is truly great to see new affordable homes coming forward in the city.”
The completed development will be called Great Hayes Court and the finished apartments will be available through Homesearch, the council’s housing allocation scheme for social rent homes and low-cost home ownership in B&NES.
The council and ACL are also developing a social rented scheme on council-owned land at Danes Lane in Keynsham.
A planning application for ten social rent flats was approved by the planning committee and completion is due in autumn 2026.
