Construction of the first of 170 homes at a Norwich site, which has stood empty for years, will begin next year.
Norwich City Council has agreed to tender for a £20.5m contract to build 67 new council homes at the former Mile Cross depot site.
The Labour-run council first mooted the idea of building houses at the site, in 2017 and had set aside more than £41m for the project.
But the project has been stymied by delays, including the need to remove contamination from the site.
However, at a meeting of the authority's cabinet on Wednesday (September 10), it was agreed to award the main design and build construction contract for the first of the homes, which will be available for rent.
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Beth Jones, cabinet member for housing said: "This is a vital project for Norwich and in particular Mile Cross, and I am incredibly pleased to be progressing the next stage of delivering essential homes that our residents truly need on this site.
"This continues our commitment as a council to delivering more sustainable, high-quality, affordable housing for our communities."
The council will now be developing the design and build for this programme of work and is inviting contractors to tender for the construction of the homes, with building work expected to start next year.
The council says the new homes will include air source heat pumps and solar panels, while the development will feature green spaces, a play area, and improved links to the city via Marriot’s Way.
While the main building work will begin next year, the council has appointed Ovamill to start the groundworks for the roads and infrastructure on the site. That work will start by the end of this month.
The 10.5-acre site used to be the council’s City Works depot - where City Hall's fleet of vehicles and in-house workers were based.
It then became the Mile Cross Business Centre, home to about 30 small to medium-sized businesses, but they were served notice as the council looked to develop the site.
The buildings there were demolished in 2019. Work to clear contamination from the former Mile Cross depot site has been completed
But the site was used to dispose of rubble after buildings in the city were bombed during the Baedeker Raids of 1942, so careful checks had to be carried out.
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