'Great progress': New homes take shape at former Worthing RAF Air Cadets site

Worthing Borough Council contractors are working on 11 new energy-efficient homes in the town.

"They are making great progress on the construction,” the council reported on Thursday (March 6).

"The team from Sunninghill have completed the substructure blockwork on the site of the old RAF Air Cadets site in Victoria Road for the new homes for Worthing residents in need of somewhere to live.

"Draining runs, water mains and sewerage pipes are all in place and work is now underway on the ground floor walls.”

Plans to demolish and convert the RAF Air Cadets site in Victoria Road were approved in April. Worthing Borough Council hoped to save £120,000 per year after plans to build 11 flats for temporary/emergency accommodation were given the green light.

After submitting the application in January, the council said it was ‘determined to tackle the housing crisis’ in the town and wanted to transform the empty brownfield site at 20-22 Victoria Road ‘to help with the issue’.

The council said there are around 2,000 households on the housing register in Worthing.

A spokesperson added: “These new properties will mean we can help local families who are at risk of becoming homeless. We are currently having to house hundreds of families outside the area, away from their friends, relatives, jobs and schools, which damages their quality of life and is very expensive.

"This project will mean that as well as bringing Worthing residents back to Worthing, we’ll be able to focus more of our resources on providing services to the community.”

The council said it hopes the first Worthing residents will be able to move into the new homes this winter.