£4.5m council home development in Portsmouth a step closer to completion
A NEW block of 23 council homes in the city is a step forward to completion as the building reached its maximum height of five storeys.
Somers Town residents and councillors attended a 'topping-out' ceremony at Albion House, a £4.5m housing project on the site of the former Southsea Community Centre.
The homes, which will be a mix of one and two-bedroom flats, will be rented out at affordable rates.
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Councillor Darren Sanders, the council's housing boss, said: 'We're building council-owned homes for the people who need them at prices they can afford.
'There is a massive shortage of housing in Portsmouth and we're doing everything we can to make the situation better for people in this city who can't access the housing they need.'
Albion House is one of five new council home developments that were announced last year including projects in Doyle Avenue in Hilsea, Brewery House in Southsea, Arundel Street in Southsea and the records office in Museum Road, in Old Portsmouth.
Cllr Sanders added: 'The development of Albion House shows our commitment to making the best use of long-vacant sites and disused council assets and I can't wait until people are able to move into these new homes we are creating.'
It is thought Albion House will be completed in September this year.
More recently a mixed development of affordable and part-buy homes was completed by Vivid in Goldsmith Avenue, in Fratton.
The Southsea Community Centre closed in 2014 when the facilities were moved to the Somers Town Hub.