High hopes for council housing in Mansfield
A £5m project to build dozens of homes could transform a deprived area, a Nottinghamshire council has claimed.
Mansfield's Bellamy Road Estate was for years known as a crime blackspot but the new scheme has seen unpopular flats demolished.
The district council said the 43 rented homes, due to be ready by next spring, would "breathe new life into the area".
The properties are the first council homes built in the town since the late 1970s.
The new houses are being built in the Colston, Shelston and Syerston areas of the estate.
Installing a commemorative stone at the project, Tony Egginton, the executive mayor of Mansfield District Council, said: "This is a momentous occasion as it is the first new council housing to be built in Mansfield for 30 years.
"The scheme will breathe new life into the area and provide council tenants with much-needed high quality family homes that are energy efficient."
The authority has put in £2.5m of funding for the scheme, with the other £2.5m coming from the government's Homes and Communities Agency.