Worthing Councillors Approve Sale Of Teville Gate To Homes England

Teville Gate’s sale to Homes England has been approved by Worthing Borough Council.

The council’s Joint Strategic Sub-Committee approved the start of negotiations to sell its freehold interest in the site to Homes England on Tuesday, September 12, with the final agreement to be heard on December 5.

The council bought freehold interest in the site in 2021 for £7.45million, with a view of selling it on for development by 2024, and greenlit £300,000 for groundworks at the site.

If terms for an offer are agreed, Homes England, a non-departmental public body that funds affordable housing projects, will buy the site from the council, then fund a developer to build an affordable-housing development on the site.

If terms for an offer are not reached, the council will publish its marketing brochure to advertise the site to other interested parties, like private developer, Hyde Homes, which previously showed interest in the site to build 343 affordable homes and 20,000 sqft of commercial floorspace, before the deal fell through.

Kevin Jenkins (Con, Goring) questioned whether Homes England would deliver as many affordable homes as previously promised by Hyde, saying the council should have looked at more options before pursuing the current deal.

He said:

“What control do [the current administration] have over deliverables, i.e., affordable homes? You’ve been speaking about it passionately, really passionately about the 300 people in emergency or temporary accommodation in our town who need homes.

“I think the people of Worthing have a right to know what you’re seeking to do with Teville Gate and the risks that come with it.”

Caroline Baxter (Lab, Central) said the administration could not comment on specifics of the development before negotiations with Homes England had begun, but said they had not ruled out ‘taking a direct interest’ in some homes built on the site.

She said:

“I think we’re overlooking the big thing here and that is the fact that we have been given the opportunity to work with Homes England, and I’m sure everyone will agree it’s potentially a fantastic deal for the council and its residents.

“[The Conservatives] want a repeat of the past, you want us to secure another private investor development straight off the bat, the type of investment or deal that has seen the site lay derelict for years.” 

Worthing Borough Council’s cabinet member for housing and citizen services, Emma Taylor-Beal (Lab, Heene), previously said at full council that the Labour administration would be interested in buying back homes for social rent from the 217 home Union Place joint venture development once built.

The council received £2.09million in 2018 to demolish the Teville Gate multi-storey car park and build something in its place via the Coast to Capital Local Enterprise Partnership, which is set to lapse in 2025 – with the council stating the site was of ‘local, regional and national’ importance.

Homes England was involved with £28million in funding for Hyde Homes when the developer put its unsuccessful plan to the council.

Hazel Thorpe (LDem, Tarring) was concerned it could be risky leaning exclusively on national government funding as governments ‘come and go’.

The council will receive a capital receipt for the sale of the site should it go through, which they said would be used to pay of debts associated with the original purchase of the freehold interests.