Commissioners buy 30 homes amid social housing 'shortfall'

Braddan commissioners on the Isle of Man have agreed in principle to buy 30 affordable homes from the Braddan Woods development - which is currently being built - to help meet demand and a "shortfall" on the social-housing waiting list.

The local authority had previously objected to the development, over access and traffic concerns.

Chairman of the commissioners Andrew Jessopp said the purchase would be funded through loans, with ratepayers not covering the cost.

Almost 900 people are on the social-housing waiting list across the Island.

Jessopp said 57 of them had named Braddan as their first choice.

"There is a shortfall in terms of the number of houses that are available," he said. "This is an opportunity for us to meet some of that demand."

Asked why the commissioners had reversed their opposition to the development, he said planning permission had since been granted regardless.

"It's no case of changing our mind," he said. "It would be completely stupid of us to bury our head in the sand and say, just because we objected to the site, that we're not going to give people an opportunity to have a house."

The purchase would be repaid over time from rent paid by tenants, Jessopp said, with any shortfall in the early years covered by the commissioners' house deficiency fund.

"These houses are going to be in our housing portfolio for many, many years," he said, "so effectively they will be paid for by the people renting them".

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