Worthing hotel plan: Councillors to review decision to house homeless single people

Plans have been submitted for 44 homeless single people to be housed overnight at the Windsor House Hotel in East Worthing.

Residents have described Windsor House Hotel as the ‘wrong location for such a mass over-concentration’. Last month, hundreds of residents, including people with disabilities, were left queuing outside a community hall to discuss the hotel’s future. Click here to read more.

The hotel was bought by Sussex-based SDR Group to try to bring it back into use for the community. Adur and Worthing Councils is ‘considering signing an agreement’ for up to ten years with SDR.

“The agreement being considered by the councils would involve SDR Group managing the building with up to 44 local homeless residents staying there in individual rooms while long-term accommodation is found for them,” a spokesperson for the councils said.

“The councils have a responsibility under the Housing Act to find somewhere for homeless residents to stay.

“It is currently working with partners to create new self-contained flats for use as temporary accommodation, including on the site of the former RAF Air Cadets base in Victoria Road, but these homes will take time to be made ready.”

In the meantime, the councils are ‘currently having to support more than 200 people’ in emergency accommodation. However, a ‘lack of such property’ in the area means many of those residents are having to be put up in B&Bs – in some cases at more than £90 per person per night.

The spokesperson added: “The shortage of properties means some members of the community are having to be housed outside the borough, and sometimes outside Sussex, which affects their ability to work, their children’s education and their mental health.

“The councils estimate that the arrangement with SDR Group could reduce their bill for emergency accommodation over the next ten years by £2.5m.

“If the plan to work with SDR Group goes ahead, the company would have to first secure planning permission before the hotel could be used as emergency accommodation.”

The decision to enter into the agreement will be discussed at a meeting of the Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee at The Shoreham Centre from 6.30pm on Tuesday (July 25).

Members of the public can attend the meeting or listen to it online.