Around £1million is planned to be spent refurbishing two houses to create new homes for children in care.

Cambridgeshire County Council is planning to turn two farm houses into new children’s homes for young people with higher support needs.

The authority is hoping that investing in these homes will help it save money in the long run.

Officers told councillors at an assets and procurement committee meeting this week (September 17) that the county council is still facing high costs for residential care placements for children.

The issue has been raised by the authority a number of times; last year the chief executive Stephen Moir called the children’s social care market broken, highlighting an example of one care placement having cost £85,000 a week.

The two houses proposed to be converted into children’s homes are already owned by the county council as part of its rural estate.

Officers told councillors that the two houses are near Soham and are currently vacant as they are not needed for running the farms.

It is expected to cost up to £1m to refurbish the two houses to make them a suitable and safe place for children to live.

However, the county council estimates that once up and running the two homes could help it avoid £638,976 of costs annually.

The new homes are proposed to be run by an external provider.

Officers said if all goes to plan and they are able to get the needed permissions, then they hoped the new homes could be ready in Spring next year.

Councillor Simon Bywater said he agreed with the principle of what was being proposed, but said he wanted assurance children placed in the homes would be able to thrive.

He highlighted the rural locations of the homes and said it was important for young people to have access to a variety of facilities and services.

Officers said these specific properties were picked to cater for the needs of children and young people who need more space to help them recover from what they may have been through.

They explained that if the plan went well with these initial homes, the authority would look for more houses to convert, including some in towns to cater for children who need to be “right in the thick of it and next to services”.