Town Deal funding to boost affordable housing shortage in Hastings town centre

Hastings Borough Council has awarded the £1m Towns Fund grant for the Town Living Project funding to Hastings Commons, to support the delivery of 12 affordable, sustainable and energy efficient homes within Hastings town centre.

The council were seeking a housing provider to partner with and deliver approximately 12 new homes in the town centre by March 2026 as part of the Town Living Project. The £1m funding had originally been ringfenced for the refurbishment of a heritage property in Wellington Square, but plans were revised due to various risks associated with the listed building, including financial, suitability and future management of the building. The council has since been considering how to deliver the Town Living Project given its current restricted financial circumstances.

With the agreement of the Town Deal Board, in December 2023 the council started to talk to housing providers, seeking partners who may be interested in delivering the project using the £1m Towns Fund allocated for this project and the proposal from Hastings Commons was successful.

12 homes will be delivered within the Observer Building, eight of which will be for Hastings Borough Council nominations to reduce the need for temporary accommodation and completion is due by March 2026.

The project will repurpose 765sqm of previously derelict floor space on the second and third floors of the Observer Building and will be provided for those in severe housing need with rents set at the lower end of Hastings Living Rents (1/3 of local median wages) or at 80% of market rent. Residents will be selected from the Council's Housing Register using the same criteria as those who live next door in Rock House. The criteria are: 1). housing need, 2). local connection, 3). enthusiasm for the Hastings Commons' ethos and 4). willingness to contribute to the Commons and the wider community.

Cllr Glenn Haffenden, lead councillor for Housing and Wellbeing said, "I am pleased that Hastings Commons' approach meets the ambitions of the Town Living project and the £1m funding for this project will be used to deliver much needed, affordable, energy efficient homes within our town centre".
 
Graham Peters, Chair of the Town Deal Board, said: "This is a positive outcome all round, I am pleased that the Town Deal Programme has been able to assist in delivering much needed high quality, affordable housing in the town centre."

Progress updates for this project across Town Deal social media channels including the website, Facebook, Instagram and X (formerly known as Twitter) and more details can be found on the Hastings Town Deal blog site. 

Notes:
The Town Deals programme aims to regenerate towns and deliver long-term economic and productivity growth. This is through investments in urban regeneration, digital and physical connectivity, skills, heritage and enterprise infrastructure. As of July 2021, MHCLG have offered Town Deals to all 101 places that submitted proposals, committing over £2.35bn of investment across c.700 projects nationwide. See the press releases associated with Town Deals on gov.uk.
If you have any questions, please email towndeal@hastings.gov.uk.