Old hotels to be turned into affordable homes

Old hotels and guest houses in seaside resorts will be converted into affordable homes in a £3m project, a council has said.

Torbay Council said there were large numbers of "unviable leisure and holiday accommodation" sites that could be converted into new homes.

The council said it hoped to establish a new model whereby it would "deliver 100% affordable housing to provide homes for local households".

There has been a huge increase in demand for homes to rent and buy in Torbay in recent years, according to the council's housing strategy.

Torbay Council's cabinet discussed the Hotels to Homes policy on Wednesday, which is funded with £3m from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

The properties would be let through the Devon Home Choice service to eligible households with a local connection to Torbay, officials said.

The council said it also intended to make the sites attractive to households where at least one adult worked in a key industry, such as the NHS, where a lack of good-quality affordable housing had had a direct impact on recruiting and keeping staff.

According to the Torbay Council report, the area used to deliver between 100 and 180 affordable homes every year in the early 2000s, but the figure had dropped to an average of 36 affordable homes a year.

The report said small sites developed by private sector firms typically provided "few, if any, affordable homes" as there was no compulsory requirement for affordable homes on sites of 15 or fewer homes.

Torbay Council said an added benefit of the scheme would be to avoid old hotel sites becoming derelict, causing potential problems with anti-social behaviour.

It said its ambition was "to prove that the delivery model can be a viable vehicle to increase the level of affordable housing and stimulate neighbourhood renewal and regeneration".

The council said it was hoping to exchange contracts on the first scheme in November for an unnamed site that would deliver 14 homes.

The idea has been welcomed by charities who say there is a desperate need for more affordable housing.

Zoe Conn, from Julian House, a charity that helps people find housing across the south west, said: "I think it's great that Torbay Council is being creative with the property that it's got.

"It's thinking creatively about how it can provide homes for more people - whether they are in crisis or working in key sectors - that's what we need to see in Devon."

Jordan Stuart, 25, said it was "really tricky" to get on to the housing ladder in Torquay.

"We are being priced out by a lot of second homeowners and people who want to invest in Torbay, which is fantastic for the infrastructure," he said.

"But unfortunately, it’s not fantastic for people like me who want to get into the market and move out of parents' houses or just get out of private renting.

He added: "It is just really tricky."

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