A PRIVATE housing company has been set up in a £44m bid by Wiltshire Council to supply more homes in the county.

The council agreed to create a commercial housing company at a cabinet meeting and aims to purchase up to 50 homes a year.

It also set up a separate development company that will build housing on council-owned land,completing 158 by 2020.

Richard Clewer, cabinet member for housing at the council, said: “We have already made great strides in creating hundreds of affordable homes across the county.

“However, the private housing company provides more flexibility in offering homes to a wider range of people in the county.

"There are some areas where we may need to provide housing with fixed term tenancies, potentially linked to care worker jobs or for care leavers.

“The housing company would help to meet this wider housing need and provide that greater scope to do more while generating a revenue return for the council.”

The authority is using extra cash from the government to fund its plan.

Swindon Borough Council has operated its own commercial housing building programme since last year. The first development on Euclid Street, on the site of former nursery buildings,was completed in July, and will be used as an extra revenue stream for council services.