North West Leicestershire District Council has put social distancing measures in place so that work can restart on eight new council homes which are being built on the site of a former pub in Greenhill.

The current Coronavirus crisis meant that construction had to be suspended when materials ran short during the latest phase of the district council's bid to build 30 new homes per year. 

But, with the supply now restored and safe methods of working developed, work started again on Wednesday - using social distancing precautions - as the council looks to push forward with projects that can continue during the pandemic.

Seven new houses and a bungalow are being built by the council's contracted partner Robert Woodhead Limited, providing affordable housing for residents that need it. 

The council housing waiting list for the district currently stands at more than 950 households.

The homes are part of the council's new-build programme aiming to provide around 30 new homes for rent each year – adding to its stock of around 4,250 council homes.

The council began building council homes for the first time in almost 30 years in 2017.

And tenants have already moved into 41 new homes in Coalville, and seven in Ashby, since the project got under way.

This includes the 24 new homes completed last year at the former police station site on Ashby Road, Coalville.

This mix of affordable two-bedroom and three-bedroom homes, in addition to six one-bedroom flats, have now been rented to tenants from the council's waiting list.

Councillor Roger Bayliss, Portfolio Holder for Housing and Customer Services at North West Leicestershire District Council, said: "Following the completion of the 24 new homes in Ashby Road, Coalville last year, it's great to see our latest project restarting after a short break due to Coronavirus restrictions. We're extremely proud to be building new homes for people that need our support. 

"Despite the coronavirus we want to emphasise that, where appropriate, it is business as usual for us. This project can restart safely with social distancing in place, allowing us to make progress with building homes for people in North West Leicestershire.

"We've worked with Robert Woodhead on previous new-build projects and we're delighted to have them working with us again to produce more new high quality, affordable homes for our tenants."

Tom Woodhead, Business Services Director at Robert Woodhead Ltd, said: "Over the last few weeks, we have been working with our industry peers, government and industry bodies to understand how the government guidelines and CLC Site Operating Procedures can be implemented on construction sites.

"We have developed stringent operating procedures, risk and method statements to enable us to start on site to deliver this much needed local housing with North West Leicestershire District Council."