Cheshire East Council has joined forces with social housing providers to deliver new affordable homes in Wilmslow and across the Borough.
The Council has taken the strategic decision to increase the provision of affordable housing by utilising some of its own land assets to deliver up to 50 new affordable homes.
In 2010, the authority started a procurement exercise to select an organisation that would work with them to develop and manage affordable housing on four of the approved sites, the largest of which is Oakdene Court in Wilmslow.
This derelict sheltered block, which has been vandalised and become an eyesore, is the largest of the developments with up to 30 new properties.
Other sites include Westview, a former care home in Crewe, which will be converted into family homes. The other two smaller sites are in Macclesfield; Churchside Cottage, which is a row of five terraced properties, and The Moss on Congleton Road, two semi-detached properties used as offices, will be restored to provide much-needed family accommodation.
A total of 14 organisations expressed an interest in developing the sites, with five of these progressing to the shortlist stage. Following the assessment process, Equity Housing Group was selected to develop three of the sites and Harvest Housing Group will develop Westview in Crewe.
It is envisaged that the four sites will create about 50 units of accommodation and be completed by early 2014.
All the properties will be allocated via Cheshire Homechoice. This is the system for allocating social housing in accordance with Cheshire East's housing allocations policy.
Councillor Jamie Macrae, Cabinet member with responsibility for prosperity, said: "The provision of affordable housing is a key priority for the Council and this announcement is really good news for the people of Cheshire East.
"This particular scheme enables the council to invest its assets in partnership with the housing sector, to provide much-needed affordable housing and provide an income to the Council for re-investment in future housing provision.
"Following the success of the pilot, we can be confident that phase two of the scheme can proceed with the prospect of early delivery of further affordable housing provision across the Borough.
"The 2010 Strategic Housing Market Assessment revealed that, across the Borough, there is an annual shortfall of more than 1,000 affordable dwellings. While this is not a target, it is a clear indication of the level of need across the authority.
"We have 8,000 people registered on waiting lists for affordable housing and the greatest demand is for family accommodation.
"The level of Government grants available to encourage the building of affordable housing has been reduced significantly and therefore we need to explore alternative ways in which to increase provision. Using some of the Council's land for this purpose is one important way to address this problem.
"The redevelopment of such sites will improve neighbourhoods and is another excellent example of the Council working with others to deliver for the people of Cheshire East."
The land will be leased to the successful bidders for a period of up to 125 years for the provision of affordable housing. The Council will retain the freehold ownership of the land.
Equity Housing Group chief executive David Fisher said: "We are delighted to have this opportunity to work alongside Cheshire East Council in making a positive difference to people's lives and communities in Cheshire."
