Construction on more than 150 new affordable homes gets the go-ahead after a large cash injection from private investors. Building work on 169 affordable homes and a residential care home will commence on sites across the borough after Brent Council secu

Construction on more than 150 new affordable homes gets the go-ahead after a large cash injection from private investors.

Building work on 169 affordable homes and a residential care home will commence on sites across the borough after Brent Council secured �140 million worth of investment from the Hyde Group housing association, and banking firms Barclays Capital and Nord LB.

The new homes - the second stage in a major project to invest in affordable housing - will be built by the construction firm Bouygues UK under the private finance initiative, with a further �37m of funding already secured from the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA),

The cash is a major boost for the council, which has a severe shortage of housing stock, with one of the longest social housing waiting lists in London, with nearly 22,000 people on it.

Martin Cheeseman, Brent's director of housing and community care, said: "Securing this funding is a major achievement for Brent and something of a coup in the current economic downturn when many local authorities are having to shelve their plans to build desperately needed, affordable housing for their residents."

New homes will be built in Wembley, Willesden, Brondesbury Park and Harlesden, and are expected to be completed by December 2012.

Cllr Bobby Thomas, lead member for housing and regeneration, said: "I am thrilled that we have the go-ahead to complete the second phase of this major building scheme that will transform the lives of so many of our residents, and the landscape of the borough.