The first Adur households move into 53 social rent homes on Shoreham's old civic centre site in Ham Road this month. Hyde has built 159 affordable homes there.

The first tenants are due to move into new social rent homes on the site of the old Adur Civic Centre in Shoreham later this month. The flats in Ham Road, in the centre of Shoreham about six miles east of Worthing, go to households on Adur District Council’s waiting list.

Housing association Hyde bought the site from the council and has built 159 affordable homes on it. The council announced on Monday 19 October that the first tenants are expected to move into Silverleaf Court later in October. Its September release called the development Silvertide Point.

What has been built

The council’s figures for the scheme are:

  • 159 affordable homes in total
  • 53 for social rent, let to households on the Adur waiting list
  • 106 for shared ownership, where buyers purchase part of the home and pay rent on the rest
  • one, two and three bedroom flats

The homes have solar panels, and air source heat pump boosters for hot water. The council says that should mean far lower fuel bills than in a traditional home.

Councillor Jeremy Gardner and Councillor Becky Allinson standing on an outdoor walkway at the new homes in Ham Road, Shoreham
Cllr Jeremy Gardner, leader of Adur District Council, with Cllr Becky Allinson, deputy leader, at the new homes. Photo: supplied by Adur & Worthing Councils

Councillor Lee Cowen, Adur’s cabinet member for housing, said: “These great new homes will give dozens of our Adur households a better place to live, at a rent they can afford.”

Sarah Poulter, Hyde’s regional development director for the south, said the homes were nearly finished. Hyde says that with its completed Kingston Wharf scheme, it has provided affordable homes for about 1,200 people in Shoreham over the past couple of years.

How it fits the waiting list

The 53 homes are a real dent in demand, but a small one. In September the council said more than 1,000 Adur households were on its waiting list. More than 340 of them were in Band D, which means the council judges they have no actual housing need (PR26-085).

Most new social homes in Adur now come from private developers, under planning agreements with the council. In the last 18 months, the council says, more than 160 Adur households moved into new-build social rent homes. They include:

  • more than 50 at New Monks Park in Lancing
  • more than 20 at West Sompting
  • more than 90 into homes built by Hyde in Shoreham

Worthing has its own list and its own pressures. We set out Worthing’s plan to drop 858 no-need households from its list in September; consultation on it closed on 20 October. One proposal in both councils’ reviews would let families on either list move into an empty council home in the other area, if no local family on that list needed it.

What it means for you

  • If you are on the Adur housing waiting list, these 53 flats are being let to households from that list, the council says. Ask the council’s housing team, not Hyde, about your place on it.
  • If you live in Worthing, these homes are for Adur’s list. The proposed cross-border rule would only cover empty council homes, and it has not been decided.
  • If you want to buy a share of one of the 106 shared ownership homes, Hyde, which built them, is the one to ask.
  • If you live near Ham Road, Hyde says the homes are nearly finished.