'Landmark building' earmarked for Corporation St, Rochester with affordable flats for over-60s1/5/2020
The UK's largest independent social landlord has put forward plans to build 48 affordable flats for older residents in the historic heart of Rochester. If given the go-ahead, the development by MHS Homes will see St. Clement's House on the corner of Corporation Street and Blue Boar Lane demolished to make way for a new part seven, part five-storey block of flats. The development will provide 48 one-bed flats only for people aged 60 and over who are able to live independently as there will be no on-site care provision. It is aimed that the block will offer 100% of the housing as affordable rent, subject to a successful bid by MHS Homes for grant funding from Homes England, although this is still pending to be awarded. With loneliness in the UK expected to rise by 40% from 5.25m today to 7m by 2030, MHS Homes is seeking to promote both social interaction and independent living among older residents through the housing scheme. Future residents will be able to mingle in a range of communal settings, including a ground floor lounge and kitchen area, a sensory garden and an outdoor 'activity lawn' which can be flexibly used for summer barbecues, exercise classes and community events. The self-contained flats will also be innovatively designed so that each apartment has a kitchen window which faces the corridor to encourage interaction between neighbours. All in all, nine car parking spaces and an ambulance bay will be provided to the rear of the site, as well as a further ten parking spaces for bikes and ten for mobility scooters. New trees and flowers will be planted along the boundaries of the site to 'help establish a new boulevard' along Corporation Street, which aligns with Medway Council's own vision for the busy route through Rochester. In the planning application documents, Sarah Paxton, Assistant Director of Development and Regeneration at MHS Homes, said: "We need to meet the changing demands of our population. "Providing homes for older people will offer them a secure home in a sought after location, that’s easily adaptable to their changing needs, whilst helping to free up much needed larger family homes." The site is currently occupied by St. Clement's House, which has 21 residential units spread across three storeys. However, MHS Homes claims that it is in a 'poor state of repair' and would require 'significant investment to maintain'.
The majority of the existing residents have already vacated the site, with MHS Homes relocating those affordable rented tenants to other suitable MHS-owned properties nearby. Only a small number of leaseholders remain who MHS Homes are currently negotiating with in order to gain vacant possession of their privately owned flats. The development is being led by BPTW Architects on behalf of MHS Homes, who previously designed the neighbouring PRIME1 housing scheme - also owned by MHS Homes - which won the prestigious ‘Excellence in Development’ award at the 2019 Kent Housing Group Awards. BPTW is also working on the £419m Rochester Riverside development on the other side of the railway line, where up to 1,400 homes, a primary school, commercial floorspace, and a new hotel will be built over the next 12 years. MHS Homes is the largest independent social landlord in the UK and has embarked on a mission to help end the housing crisis in north Kent, managing over 10,000 homes across Medway and Kent. You can visit the dedicated page on the Planning Portal to view the plans in further detail and to make a comment in support or objection to Medway Council. Photos: BPTW Architects, Google Street View |
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