Derelict council homes to be sold for £1 to help ex-servicemen and women

Mansfield Council is selling 7 derelict council-owned houses to ex-serviceman for £1 each, reports Ross McMillan in a 24dash.com's housing news item published on 27th September. The project is being managed by social business Training Regeneration Education Employment Sustainability (Trees) Group which will be offering training to the servicemen involved via the Joint Forces Alliance charity. This is the kind of scheme that we can expect the "community group" strand within the £100million empt y homes programme to fund. The story reports that "to refurbish the properties, a sum of around £150,000 would have been required" but doesn't say how much will now be required or where the money will come from. According to a BBC report, iIt seems that the ex-servicemen and women will not necessarily live in the finished homes so as "not to create a ghetto". The homes will nevertheless be used to reduce homelessness. You can read the full story here. You can also find the Cabinet report in support of the project here.