Rochdale Council to spend £25 million on urgent housebuilding as housing crisis deepens

Thursday, 14 August 2025 12:11

By George Lythgoe

Rochdale council is set to fork out millions to build thousands of new homes in the borough over the next five years.

Town hall bosses declared a housing emergency back in October 2023, and next week the cabinet is expected to inject more cash to help resolve that crisis.

In is understood some £4.779m will be approved for the Housing Supply Programme over the next two years.

At next week’s town hall meeting, Rochdale council’s cabinet would also commit to working towards a cumulative £25m budget for the programme – expected to run until 2030.

The borough currently has a housebuilding target of 616 homes per year, set by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA). But that target is expected to rise following the government announcing a new annual target of 918 homes recently.

Currently Rochdale is delivering 609 homes per year on average.

A cabinet report said: “It therefore becomes clear that a period of acceleration of delivery of homes is required, and of this the related acceleration of affordable housing units will become significantly more important.

“The demand for social/affordable housing is critical amongst younger people, making up over half of the current demand.

“On this basis alone the need for affordable housing will rise at an accelerated rate as those individuals remain un-housed or inappropriately housed, with the next generation inflating demand still further.”

This is not just about ticking boxes for government targets though, the housing situation is critical in Rochdale.

Council papers revealed that over 20,000 people are on the housing waiting list and 430 children are living in temporary accommodation due to homelessness and the lack of permanent accommodation to move them to.

Council papers added: “In 2024 there were 813 social properties let via the Housing Register, which represents just over 15 properties per week.

“Of the 813 social properties let in 2024 only 15 in total were 4+ bedroom properties. Larger families, particularly those with disabled children, are the cohort most likely to wait the longest for suitable accommodation, if it becomes available at all.”

So there is a call for the local authority to build more affordable housing.

It is hoped through the recent government of £2bn in investment, that an estimated £1.2bn to £1.5bn would become available via the Homes England Social Affordable Homes Programme (‘SAHP’).

This would allow more affordable housing developments to be funded and brought forward.

Town hall bosses will meet in Number One Riverside on August 21 to make a decision on the plan.