The council’s plan to sell off housing land at Woodside for redevelopment was dealt a set back recently. The council has put out its offer to a panel of five different developers, but council workers told members of the Burngreave New Housing Group in September that only one developer had decided to bid. Even this was less than the minimum the council demanded.
The Council told the meeting it would now be willing to sell the land at a reduced price of less than £1.16 million in order to achieve the necessary building standards. Reminding councillors of the original plan to let the land lie fallow for a number of years, residents asked if Woodside could be kept in public ownership until the new plans for Council house-building kicked in. In reply, Councillor Ibrar Hussain stated that people wanted houses to rent now – possibly not realising that houses to rent will be in short supply under their current plans.
The council will now reduce the asking price and will bring details of the new bids to the next meeting of the group.