A sheltered housing site from which residents were moved out after “substantial” fire risks were found is to be sold and redeveloped.
People living at Ashcroft House in Southwick were “decanted” by Adur Council so intrusive fire safety assessments could be carried out in 2020.
After the assessments found risk to life at the Kingston Lane site from lack of fire safety was ‘substantial’, they were unable to move back.
Yesterday, members of Adur and Worthing Councils’ joint cabinet agreed to sell the lease for Ashcroft House to housing association Worthing Homes.
The site was previously home to 21 flats and eight bungalows. Worthing Homes plans to redevelop the site into a mix of 56 one and two bed flats for use as sheltered housing.
The site had been used as sheltered housing by Adur council from 1982 to 2020. The council’s own plans to redevelop the site into 44 one-bed sheltered housing flats were approved by the planning committee in February 2023.
However, these plans were shelved due to the council’s self-referral to the Regulator of Social Housing that same month, meaning they were not able to access any Homes England funding support for the circa-£11 million scheme.
Worthing Homes will take out a 250-year lease on the land from the council, and plans to make at least ten per cent of the homes accessible and achieve a ten per cent biodiversity net gain on the development.
The council will receive a £500,000 capital receipt as part of the offer from Worthing Homes, which will go towards reducing housing revenue account debt and borrowing costs.
The cost of the sale and other specific details of the scheme were exempt from public discussion.
The report said the council offered the site to three social housing providers, Saxon Weal, Anchor, and Worthing Homes. It said another offer from Anchor was also received but was “significantly lower” than that of Worthing Homes’ offer, with Saxon Weald declining to submit an offer for the site.
Worthing Homes’ offer was unanimously approved by the joint cabinet. They will now have to submit planning permission for their plans for the site, which will still require approval from the council’s planning committee.
