Worthing council to pull out of 216-home scheme and sell share to partner

Worthing Borough Council cabinet members have voted to quit the local authority’s  joint venture with partner Roffey Homes, agreeing to sell its stake to the housebuilder pending negotiations.

The council believes the move will save money and speed up the delivery of the “sustainable” 216-home scheme in Union Place, West Sussex.

The partnership was formed in 2022 to create Union Gardens, a new community with residents’ gardens, a pocket park and a 236-space car park, on a long-dormant brownfield site.

The development will include 20 flats for Worthing households on the borough’s 1,900-household long waiting list for social rent and 23 available for shared ownership.

At a meeting of the joint strategic committee earlier this week, councillors agreed to offer Roffey Homes the chance to purchase the land and get going with construction.

The council said it is “focused on finding ways of reducing costs and increasing income and no longer consider the financial risk or staffing resource involved with the successful delivery of a large-scale redevelopment site to be in line with that aim. We have instead opted to sell the land and receive payment sooner.”

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Planning permission for Union Gardens was granted in March this year, with construction work by Roffey Homes expected to take place between 2025 and the end of 2028.

Ben Cheal, managing director of Roffey Homes, said:“Roffey are ready to get going on this prestigious regeneration project, with enabling works hopefully starting after Easter and, subject to regulatory approval, construction beginning later in the year. As a Worthing-based company, we see multiple additional benefits to local companies that we use and their supply chains, along with wider employment opportunities for those who work in the construction industry.”