Thanet District Council has published a report proposing to purchase land from Southern Housing at Eaton Place, on Eaton Road in Margate.
Subject to planning permission, the acquisition would enable the council to deliver approximately 60 properties for rent on the land on which Weymouth House and Stafford House (buildings owned by Southern Housing) currently sit. The two current buildings are defective and need to be demolished.
The council has entered into negotiations with the registered provider to acquire the land in order to keep and add to the 50% of homes that were delivered on that site as affordable housing.
The plan could increase the number of dwellings in the council’s housing revenue account (HRA) and, through a local lettings plan, allow it also to allocate half of the properties to Thanet residents currently living in temporary accommodation, reducing its spend on nightly-paid accommodation providers and the financial burden to the taxpayer.
The report sets out the context for the purchase, the considerations that councillors need to make to determine their view on the recommendations and the proposed way forward given some of the complexities surrounding the site.
Due to defects, the buildings will require careful demolition. The council has been assisting Southern Housing with their duty to re-house social housing tenants who would otherwise be displaced. The council will not exchange contracts on the sale until all the properties are vacant.
Cllr Helen Whitehead, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Housing, said: “To deliver what is needed for our residents, creative approaches to delivering housing are necessary; and the crisis residents have faced in relation to the defects in these properties has underlined a need to produce secure, long term housing on this site. We have long been supporting residents affected by this situation; but we also need to work to ensure long term affordability in Margate at the same time.
“Knowing the profound need for genuinely affordable housing in Margate, we have been in talks with Southern Housing to ensure that this land is used for genuinely affordable homes, and I am delighted that our discussions have now led to this exceptional opportunity to utilise this brownfield site in the centre of Margate for new properties to support local residents in housing need and in temporary accommodation, and to produce double the previous affordable housing on site.
“Officers have worked incredibly hard to bring this forward, and we look forward to hearing the views of Cabinet colleagues regarding the proposal.”
It is proposed:
- To acquire the land at £600,000 from the approved £100m capital programme;
- That the council contributes towards 50% of the demolition costs, up to a maximum of £300,000. This will ensure joint management of the demolition process;
- To appoint a design team to progress redevelopment designs to RIBA Stage 3/4 – Planning Permission/Detailed Design.
The report will be considered first for comment by the Overview and Scrutiny Panel on Tuesday 15 October. The full agenda for this meeting can be viewed on the council’s website.
The acquisition is subject to Cabinet approval and Cabinet will be asked to approve the recommendations when they meet on Thursday 24 October.
