Worthing Homes Receives £4m Grant To Tackle Homelessness

Thursday, 30 November 2023 06:00

By Thomas Hanway, Local Democracy Reporter

Skywaves House, Ivy Arch Road, Worthing, Demolition 2, sourced from Worthing Borough Council

A £4million grant to Worthing Homes has been announced following a successful bid to the government by Worthing Borough Council

The council secured the grant to build 34 new homes, communal rooms for group therapy and a homelessness drop in centre with its housing association Worthing Homes.

Worthing Homes already purchased Skywaves House on Ivy Arch Road, and is using £2.6million of the grant to demolish and deliver 21 new homes with homelessness charity Turning Tides, which will run the development once finished – with the council hoping the first tenants will be in by 2025.

The new three-storey apartment block will include offices for Turning Tides, which will provide 24-hour support for the buidling’s tenants.

The council said homelessness would be supported elsewhere in the borough with the remaining £1.4 million.

The grant is part of a £148.4million package announced on Tuesday, November 28, from the government as part of the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities’ (DLUHC) Single Homelessness Accommodation Programme (SHAP)

The scheme aims to help deliver 1,230 extra council houses across 46 local authorities in England, as well as additional support services, and repairs and renovations to existing homes.

SHAP hopes to deliver 2,400 homes across England by March, 2025, as set out by a commitment in 2022 to putting £2billion towards ending rough sleeping in the country.

Worthing Borough is on the SHAP target authorities list for both adult and young rough sleepers, with neighbouring Arun District Council on the target list for adult rough sleepers.