A former refuge in Cliftonville is now almost ready to open as a 24/7 accommodation and services site for people who have been rough sleeping.
Thanet council has bought the property in Edgar Road, which will provide 16 units of independent accommodation within a communal building with homelessness team Rise and other agencies providing support and services.
The council used £1.6m remaining in its Live Margate programme to buy the property with further capital funds used for the conversion.
The property will eventually be converted into self contained homes at affordable rents but for the time being it will provide homelessness accommodation and is expected to open on November 4th after final health and safety checks have been completed.
Rise previously ran the same Thanet Shelter accommodation and services scheme at the Broadstairs English Centre language school. This was from November 2020, when the covid pandemic meant Public Health guidance restricting shared sleeping spaces, until the end of February this year when the lease ran out and the building was needed for returning students.
The Edgar Road property is expected to stay in use for homelessness services until at least March 2025, which is when the current tranche of funding for the council’s Rise service runs out.
Speaking at a Thanet council meeting last night Cllr Helen Whitehead, who is in charge of the housing portfolio, said: “Rough sleeping and homelessness provision is of great importance to me; principally because one of my main reasons for first considering becoming a Councillor was my time spent volunteering at the Thanet Winter Shelter, and my belief that we needed to have year round, 24/7 and multi agency provision.
“I have always believed that it is our duty as a council to provide long term, one site provision. Our first communal residence came about the last time I was Cabinet member for Housing, during the pandemic, and unfortunately ended due to the fact that we didn’t own the building and were only leasing it until it was brought back into its usual usage.
“Across this period our communal accommodation typically housed between 20-25 people per night in individual rooms, with access to common areas and multi agency support.
“When this lease ended in February 2023, six residents still required support into individual accommodation. From those six, four went into temporary accommodation and two went into RISE Supported accommodation.
“The benefits of this one site model are clear, especially for those with complex needs; through having this communal base and outreach we were the first council in Kent to successfully offer and administer COVID vaccinations to those rough sleeping or known to RISE, as well as offering medical and dental services on site.
“The next step to take was to ensure that these services had a council owned home, not subject to external lease or instability of provision linked to that.”
‘Accommodate every known rough sleeper in Thanet’
Cllr Whitehead said the sale is now complete and once in use will mean the council has “sufficient accommodation to accommodate every known rough sleeper in Thanet.”
She said: “We have completed the acquisition of a large site in Edgar Road with the long term intention of converting it into self-contained homes for affordable rent.
“We are currently using it as our first ever council owned home for RISE, providing not only accommodation but also essential on site services and multi agency support for residents, to provide homes whilst building confidence and ability to maintain long term individual tenancies.
“This is a huge step forward for us, and an important and necessary investment in the health and wellbeing of our residents and community.
“The Edgar Road site will provide sixteen units of independent accommodation within a communal building; providing access to support, as well as more independence and privacy than a shelter model.
“We are currently completing essential health and safety works in the building and as soon as these are completed the service will be able to use the building. We anticipate residencies will begin from November 4th.
“As soon as Edgar Road is available we will have sufficient accommodation to accommodate every known rough sleeper in Thanet. All those currently accepting support from RISE will be able to access our first ever Council owned, multi agency rough sleeping provision, which is an exceptional achievement, and I thank RISE and Housing Officers for all their work on this project.”
Rise funding
Cllr Whitehead said work will take place to try and secure funding to continue the Rise service after the current allocation ends in March 2025, adding: “Housing and homelessness is an absolute priority for this administration, as demonstrated by our commitment to increase our provision of social housing and in house temporary accommodation for local residents, and we will continue to bid and do our absolute best to secure funding for residents in need of this service.”
Get advice
Thanet council Housing Team 01843 577277
