Have your say on plans for 14 affordable homes in Kennington

Ashford Borough Council’s housing services team is proposing to develop a small piece of land in Kennington to provide 14 much-needed affordable homes.

The proposed site in Tile Kiln Road is currently a grassed area boarding Tile Kiln Road and Towers View. To the north west of the site there are houses and a garage block, and to the south west there are houses and a convenience store and takeaway.

Nearby there is a primary and secondary school, a post office and plenty of public transport routes.

The proposal is for 14 homes consisting of four x 1-bedroom bungalows which meet Building Regulation M4(2) standard (meaning they are accessible and adaptable), five x 2-bed houses and five 3-bed houses, one of which meets M4(3) standard – this means it will be fully wheelchair accessible.

The intention is that they will be allocated to people on our housing waiting list needing social and affordable rental homes. We will aim to set affordable rent levels on these homes that are around 60-80% of market rent levels in the area. This is to ensure the homes are genuinely affordable to those who are housed in them. These levels will be within the Local Housing Allowance.

The proposals also include the creation of 24 parking spaces. These will be 17 on plot parking including one disabled bay, and seven allocated parking bays within the parking court.

Cllr Andrew Buchanan, portfolio holder for housing, said that subject to obtaining planning permission, work would begin on site within a year and that the build time will be around a year.

“There are around 1,500 people on our waiting list for affordable housing, with people waiting for both general needs accommodation as well as adapted homes. Like every other authority in the country, we must do our bit to try and alleviate the housing issues that we face,” he added.

Ward member Cllr Winston Michael said: “Having originally alerted the Council to the plot coming onto the market, I have worked closely with the housing team to shape a beautiful development of housing that will still look good for many years to come. I am proud of the collaborative work that has gone into creating a scheme that promises much-needed homes for the local community.”

Designed with the future in mind

The proposals have been designed in-house by our own development team who are highly experienced at providing desirable homes and places that fully consider the surrounding area and properties. High quality design and materials are important to us, we want our developments to complement and enhance the local area.

The buildings proposed are 14 new homes of a mixture of houses and bungalows designed to the Nationally Described Space Standard for new dwellings. The buildings proposed take their cue from the surrounding street scene and with consideration given to neighbouring properties and other practical aspects such as parking and refuse.

Public consultations

The Council will undertake two consultations to understand the views of the community. This information represents our initial stage one consultation, demonstrating the proposals. We take these views very seriously and ask for your honest feedback.

We then take these comments into consideration and wherever possible adapt our proposals before they are submitted as a full planning application that also goes to planning committee. ABC Housing goes through the planning process as any applicant does. You will have a second, more formal opportunity to give your thoughts on the planning application during stage two. The council’s housing team will not appeal any planning decision.

What do you think?

Printed copies of a consultation questionnaire have been delivered to nearby homes and they can be returned by post or the public can visit our consultation portal and respond online. If you leave your details any questions you raise can be answered.

The first stage of the consultation runs until Friday 23 September 2022.