Worthing homes plan: Key milestone as former RAF Air Cadets site to be transformed

Worthing’s old RAF Air Cadets site was demolished as part of council plans to provide emergency accommodation for families in need.

Plans to demolish and convert the 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.

In an update on Thursday (July 18), the council announced on social media: “We’ve chosen the contractors who will help us build 11 new energy-efficient council homes for Worthing residents in need of somewhere to live.

“In the coming weeks Sunninghill will move onto the old RAF Air Cadets site in Victoria Road to start work on the new flats that we urgently need.

“There are around 1900 households on the housing register in Worthing and these new flats 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.”

The council said its project will mean that – as well as bringing Worthing citizens back to the town – staff be able to ‘focus more of our resources on providing services to the community’.

A spokesperson added: “We’ve secured around £800,000 of government funding to clear the site and help pay for the development.

“The new flats will be built to Passivhaus standards, which means they will be so well constructed, insulated and ventilated that they need very little energy to heat or cool, so the residents will have far lower fuel bills.

“We hope the first Worthing citizens will be able to move into the new homes in the autumn of 2025.”