Homeless housing scheme approved in Worcester
Worcester City Council wants to turn Barrington House into temporary accommodation for homeless families.
COUNCILLORS have approved plans to convert a Georgian townhouse into homeless accommodation.
Barrington House in Henwick Road will provide 10 self-contained units for vulnerable and homeless people in Worcester.
On Thursday (July 23), Worcester City Council’s planning meeting was told the property has previously been used as a private residence and a B&B.
Since 2015 it has been used by the University of Worcester to provide accommodation for students and lecturers.
Rosie Badham, the council’s housing and homelessness service manager, said: “These will be self-contained homes with no shared facilities – flats, essentially. It will not be a HMO or a hostel.”
She said the property will not house “high risk individuals”, sex offenders or asylum seekers and is “intended for families and vulnerable individuals with no history of violence or criminal behaviour”.
Cllr John Rudge said: “If we as a city can’t provide accommodation for these people we need to ask ourselves some questions.”
Ms Badham said the average length of stay in a similar property in Worcester is four to five months.
She also said it is unlawful to house families with children in a bed and breakfast for longer than six weeks and the acquisition of Barrington House helps the council fulfil its statutory duties.
Cllr Pat Agar said the social benefits of the scheme are “enormous”.
The plans had attracted 51 objections, with people raising concerns over possible anti-social behaviour, parking and impact on property values.
Planning officer Paul Round said residents’ concerns are taken seriously and security arrangements will be assessed by an independent police body before anyone moves into the building.
Cllr Jill Desayrah said it was important to support the council in meeting its obligations in supporting vulnerable people.
Cllr Richard Udall said he had a dilemma, as the plan had “significant merits” but these had to be balanced with traffic and parking issues in Hylton Road – he eventually abstained from the vote.
Cllr Alex Kinnersley said any potential use of the building would involve cars and rejecting this plan would effectively condemn it to being an empty building.
The scheme was approved by a majority of councillors. Earlier in the year, the council’s policy and resources committee gave the go-ahead for the council to buy the building.