Affordable homes could be built on former Kirkby care home site in £5m transformation

Ashfield District Council is considering a £5m affordable housing project on the site of a former Kirkby-in-Ashfield care home. The land, previously home to Kirklands Residential Home, which was demolished in 2020, is currently owned by Nottinghamshire County Council.

Initial plans suggest the construction of 20 council-owned homes, two of which will be adapted for wheelchair users. The site is situated on the Kingsway estate on Fairway, nestled between Central Avenue and Western Avenue.

Both councils have had the site valued and a tentative purchase price has been agreed upon. It's expected that Ashfield District Council's Cabinet will approve the project at a meeting next week (Monday, September 16).

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The acquisition would be financed by Section 106 contributions from developers for local infrastructure, as well as funds from a recent sale of council-owned garages. The affordable housing scheme is projected to cost just under £5m.

The council aims to secure £1.1m of Homes England funding to support the project. Preliminary plans, yet to be formally submitted, propose 12 two-bed houses, six three-bed houses and two four-bed houses.

The four-bed properties would feature a ground-floor bedroom and bathroom accessible for wheelchair users. A council report on the decision states: "Meeting the needs of larger families where one member is a wheelchair user is exceptionally difficult and these two four-bed houses will help meet that local need."

The report highlights a substantial local need for social housing. It specifies: "Vacant garage sites, car parks and other under-utilised council land has been used for the purpose of building new homes."

Emphasising the scale of the issue, the document adds: "With over 4000 applicants on the Housing Register, the Council is committed to continue with the programme but must now look further afield for suitable land to develop."