Projects and Partnerships - Midhurst Community Land Trust

Wyndham Court off Lamberts Lane, Midhurst

Contracts exchanged and first tenants appointed

The Midhurst Community Land Trust has exchanged contracts on their first two houses in Midhurst, the first of their kind in Sussex. Also, after an interview process, we have now offered and had accepted, the tenancies of our two houses off Lamberts Lane with planned occupation sometime in May. We are so pleased that we have been able to offer houses to two families in the area and wish them a happy future in their new homes.

The two houses at Wyndham Court off Lambert’s Lane in Midhurst are currently in the final stages of construction by award-winning Metis Homes who have a successful history of developments in the town.

We are in negotiations to refurbish a large building that will, subject to planning consent, be converted into 3 two bedroom and 1 one-bedroom apartments.

Brickworks site

SDNP has given a green light for affordable homes, as part of a new development, in Bepton Lane, Midhurst

At last, out of the various projects we’ve been following up on since we wrote to you last, a number of new developments now have or are progressing towards planning permission. The one that we are now in initial discussions on is the former Brickworks, the old West Sussex County Council Depot site in Bepton Road Midhurst, where the SDNP has given Metis Homes planning consent for 69 houses, including affordable homes.

Artist impression of the new affordable flats at the Brickworks site

The site will include a block of 12 affordable rented flats (6 x 1 beds and 6 x 2 beds) and we have requested that Metis Homes allows us to assess the viability of Midhurst Community Land Trust to buy them for the local community.

                                 Brickworks site illustration

 

These projects only come about through the support and commitment that the South Downs National Park Authority and Chichester District Council to help us obtain these key assets for the benefit of Midhurst. Indeed, our properties in Lamberts Lane, built by Metis, only came about through the strong support we had from both SNDP and CDC.

 

A further set of applications, that also contain affordable homes, by Metis Homes are being reviewed by SDNP on April 13^th so we have a lot of work in hand to ensure that we can acquire affordable homes, in perpetuity for our local residents. Metis Homes Managing Director Adam O’Brien said in a recent meeting we had with him, “We are keen to continue to deliver more affordable homes for the CLT following the success of the first units we built for you at Lamberts Lane”.

 

We plan to hold a Town Hall Meeting sometime in the Autumn when we should have some more specific information and timings. In the meantime, we appreciate your continued support.

 

 

We are always keen to hear about land available for the construction of affordable homes for local people.

Midhurst Community Land Trust is currently seeking opportunities for land acquisition that would be suitable for the development of sustainable housing.  As soon as information becomes available on our developments and the availability of accommodation, we will publish is on our housing and accommodation page and through our Facebook page.

If you have land that you think might be suitable for development – whether existing housing exists there or not – please let us know by contacting us and we will discuss with you on a confidential basis.