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Nearly one hundred homes with the aim of being “genuinely affordable” for people to live in across Croydon have now been bought by the council.

Croydon Council set up the Croydon Affordable Homes (CAH) scheme a year ago to provide homes for families from the borough who have been in temporary accommodation.

The aim is to make homes cheaper so it is easier for families to afford to live there.

Since last July the council has bought 84 homes, mainly two or three-bedroom flats and houses as well as a four-bedroom house and a five-bedroom house. They all cost no more than 65% of the average market rent.

This means a two-bedroom flat that usually costs £1,380 per month is instead at the Local Housing Allowance of £900.

Another 18 properties are expected to be added to these 84 homes by October.

Councillor Alison Butler, deputy leader and cabinet member for homes and gateway services, said: “We created CAH to invest in good-quality, genuinely affordable homes that are within reach of local residents who have been in temporary accommodation, and I’m pleased we have achieved so much in the first year.

“With our 100th CAH property in the pipeline and Brick by Brick already on its first construction sites, I look forward to hundreds more of these affordable homes becoming available to Croydon residents.”

In addition, CAH has taken on 96 refurbished council-owned or private properties, and at least another 280 new-build affordable rented properties will be delivered for CAH through Brick by Brick, the development company set up by the council that has begun construction on sites across the borough.

The council created CAH as an independent charity so it can use around £30million in Right To Buy sales receipts, set affordable rent levels and give priority to people from Croydon.

All rooms in the CAH-run homes meet the Mayor of London’s space standards, and tenants get an assured shorthold contract of up to three years instead of the usual six months with private landlords.

In return for council funding that makes the properties available, CAH repays Croydon through both the rent it receives and external investment.