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Council buys £1m house to help borough's homeless

BBC A general view of Abbeyfield House in Hadleigh with a for sale sign outsideBBC
The sheltered housing complex could have new residents by next spring

A sheltered housing complex will be turned into accommodation for people facing homelessness after a council agreed to buy it off the open market for £1.1million.

Castle Point Borough Council will spend a further £500,000 refurbishing Abbeyfield House in Hadleigh, Essex, to create temporary accommodation for 19 households.

The council has a legal duty to provide people facing homelessness with emergency housing, but has struggled to meet demand with some families being sent as far away as Ipswich in Suffolk to find a place to stay.

Councillor Tom Gibson, cabinet member for special projects and assets, said: “Acquiring this facility helps us keep those families close to their schools, close to their doctors, and close to their friends and family.”

'Nowhere near enough'

In the last financial year the council said it spent £532,000 on bed and breakfast accommodation, up from £310,000 in 2022/23. It also only owns 17 places that can be used to house people in an emergency, meaning many are sent elsewhere.

Cllr Gibson added: “It’s a huge issue. The provision we have in the borough at the moment is nowhere near enough. We’re unfortunately having to house homeless households, some with young children, in out of borough placements.

“We try and house them in neighbouring boroughs like Rochford, Southend or Basildon, but we can go as far as Thurrock and even have some in Ipswich.”

A head and shoulders picture of Castle Point councillor, Tom Gibson, with Abbeyfield House behind him
Cllr Tom Gibson says finding homeless accommodation is a "huge issue"

The purchase of Abbeyfield House was approved at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday and the council hopes to have people moving in by spring next year.

Despite the council's reassurances on it being used to help local families, many residents living close by said they were “nervous” about who would be moving in.

Dr Derek Cameron, 69, who lives opposite the site, said: “There’s not going to be any security there and I think that’s going to be an important aspect when you’ve got multiple people staying in the complex.”

His neighbour Rodney Fletcher, 81, said the change of use was “the lesser of two evils” after expressing his concerns it could have been bought by a London council to house their citizens in it.

Abbeyfield House was originally built by the Hadleigh Benfleet Society in 1983.

It was listed by Amos estate agents last month with an asking price of £1.2million.

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