This is why half of affordable homes at Worthing seafront development Bayside haven’t been taken up

Planning permission was granted in 2017 for the £45 million Bayside apartments scheme at the former Aquarena Pool site.

As a condition of planning approval, Roffey Homes was required to make developer contributions, also known as a ‘Section 106 agreement’.

Part of the agreement included the provision of 42 affordable apartments, which is in line with national planning policy requirements for 30 per cent of housing to be affordable at sites with more than 10 dwellings.

But a meeting of Adur and Worthing Councils’ joint strategic committee on Tuesday (November 9) heard that 22 shared ownership apartments had not been taken up by a registered affordable housing provider ‘due to concerns about service charges’.

The remaining 20 affordable units were transferred to Worthing Homes Ltd.

Under its agreement with the council, Roffey Homes had to pay a sum of money in lieu of any affordable units not being provided.

This comes in at £29,760 for a studio, £79,560 for a one-bed, or £80,850 for a two-bed.

A sum of £1, 948, 268 has now been paid to the council and officers were given permission to transfer this to the capital programme budget.

The money must be used to deliver affordable, temporary or emergency housing in the borough.

But Margaret Howard (Lab, Broadwater) was not satisfied with the arrangement.

During the meeting, she said: “The 22 shared ownership homes were not taken up by the registered providers due to concerns about service charges so this means they are not, in fact, affordable really.

“The developer is effectively allowed a way out of their responsibility of providing shared ownership properties simply by paying a smaller amount than a property would be.”

But council officers said that the decision not to take over the units was for ‘understandable reasons’ as service charges associated with the 15-storey seafront tower at the site were ‘somewhat unpalatable’ to providers.

“What we’re proposing is an option to use those monies to make sure that it continues to provide affordable homes for those who need them,” one officer said.

This view was shared by Edward Crouch (Con, Marine) who said: “I would much rather see accommodation that people are able to move into rather than cash that creates a sort of delay in getting people off the housing list.

“However, there will be a solid reason for why the registered providers have not gone for this.”

Some JSC members pointed out that the more than £1 million in funding would be a welcome contribution to affordable housing in the borough.

Heather Mercer (Con, Salvington) said high service charges at Bayside were ‘inevitable’, adding that the council has no control over the decisions of registered housing providers.

“But we do make sure that we get our money back,” she said, “and that money will be used for housing.

“I would like to personally thank the housing team for all the work they do on making sure that we get the very best housing for our residents.”

Kevin Jenkins (Con, Gaisford) also welcomed the funding from Roffey Homes, saying that it would help the council to ‘meet an acute housing need’.