COLCHESTER Council will purchase 100 former council homes to let to those on its housing register as part of a £22 million project.

The authority's cabinet agreed to press ahead with the scheme, called the 100 Homes Project, in a bid to combat the housing crisis in the town.

Once purchased, the homes will be refurbished ready to let to some of the 3,000 on the council's housing list.

The properties’ ownership would be transferred on leases of at least 80 years to a new limited liability partnership involving the council and a new independent charity it wants to establish - Hollytrees Homes.

Before being transferred to the partnership, the properties would be let on a non-secure basis to homeless households as temporary accommodation.

Housing boss Adam Fox said: "What is really exciting about this project is it is another opportunity to tackle the issue of homelessness and affordable housing across the borough.

"This is a particularly innovative scheme as well and it demonstrates the hard work of officers to come up with new approaches and enable us to achieve this outside of the constraints we are in."

Colchester Borough Homes will handle the management of the properties under a separate agreement with landlord the LLP.