Popham Court in Wellington is to be redeveloped for housing – but not until March 2021.
The former care home, which closed in 2018 and was brought back to life briefly during the coronavirus crisis when beds were needed to create space in hospitals, has been placed on the market and a buyer identified.
Somerset County Council which owns the building and land has confirmed that it has been sold to a developer – subject to contracts – to provide at least 25 new homes but the council retains the property until March 2021 in case it is required to accommodate a ‘second wave’ of the pandemic.
On SCC website, Charlie Field, the council’s strategic manager for estates and corporate property, said, “The premises have been extensively marketed with reasonable interest. The proposed sale to a housing developer will see the provision of not less than 25 dwellings, subject to planning approval.”
It has been agreed that the developer may not take ownership until March 2021 at the earliest. Mr Field said: “The premises were prepared as part of the Covid-19 response as a potential site for care facilities. The site remains available should they be required if further spikes in the locality require it. To this end, we have agreed with the purchaser that completion could be delayed until March 2021 should we require.”
It is believed that contracts are about to be exchanged between the council and a developer whose identity has not been published due to commercial sensitivity. The price paid for the property is also not yet known.
Mr Field argued that “retaining the buildings would place an economic burden on the council due to the level of maintenance needed to keep them in working order.”
Before SCC took over Popham Court during the coronavirus crisis it was used temporarily by AdHoc Property Management, a company based in London which takes on empty properties on behalf of their private owners and regenerates them by turning them into temporary affordable housing. Up to 25 ‘property guardians’ – including people on low incomes and contractors – were accommodated there on rolling 28-day agreements to maintaining the property.
Chris Squire, the council’s director of human resources and organisational development, tweeted on April 2 that all guardians had been successfully relocated.
A very welcome development here would comprise a mix of socially rented/affordable homes for local people, similar to the current building project at the neighbouring Cornhill site. There, a creative partnership between the construction company, SW&T Council and a local housing association are working to achieve this aim and providing 42 new town centre homes.
Does anyone know yet who the developer is for the Popham’s site?
Do they plan to include any socially appropriate dwellings for local families rather than their preferred format to be sold on the open market for maximum profit?
Fingers crossed it’s the former and not the latter!