Housing Company Legal Advice

The Council intends to create a wholly-owned local housing company, provisionally entitled Wolves Homes, to build approximately 150 new homes a year in the City for at least five years. The build will be funded via a local authority loan.

Depending on the suitability of council sites, some of the homes will be sold on the open market for owner-occupation, and some retained for market rent. The company will be a commercial enterprise, aimed at generating a return for the local authority general fund whilst pump-priming the housing market in the city and fulfilling a currently unmet need for well-managed, privately rented family housing.

It will be formed as a subsidiary of Wolverhampton Homes, the Council’s wholly-owned arms’ length management organisation, with a small board of directors (primarily Council officers), the positions of which are currently under consideration. The company will be created by end July 2016 which requires the Council’s formal approval of a detailed business and implementation plan for of the proposal by June. The Council seeks legal support to advise on and assist in setting up a company for Wolverhampton Homes to commence trading activity.