Union Place to be Sold to Developer

Worthing Borough Council’s cabinet members have voted to speed up the construction of 216 new homes at Union Place, by agreeing to negotiate the sale of the land to housebuilder Roffey Homes.

In 2022 Worthing Borough Council partnered with Roffey Homes to build Union Gardens - a new community of 216 highly-sustainable flats, with residents’ gardens, a pocket park, and a 236-space car park at the long-dormant brownfield site.

At a meeting of the Joint Strategic Committee meeting yesterday (Tuesday 14th January), councillors agreed to change the approach for the Union Place site, by offering Roffey Homes the chance to purchase the land and get going with construction.

Union Place is identified in the Worthing Local Plan as a key site for delivering new homes in the borough, and the council considers that by handing over sole control to Roffey Homes the redevelopment can progress much faster.

The council say they are 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. It has instead opted to sell the land and receive payment sooner.

Planning permission for Union Gardens was granted in March this year and Roffey Homes are anticipated to start construction in 2025 and complete at the end of 2028.

The development will include 20 flats that will go to Worthing households on the borough’s waiting list for genuinely affordable social rent, with a further 23 being available for shared ownership.

Cllr Rita Garner, Worthing’s deputy leader and cabinet member for regeneration, said: “The designs for Union Gardens will transform a site that has been dormant for years by creating a new sustainable community and bringing new life to our town centre. By changing our approach to the project, we are enabling Roffey Homes to bring this vision to life as soon as possible.”

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.”

You can read the latest report on the project here: https://democracy.adur-worthing.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=159&MId=2128&Ver=4.