New affordable flats approved off Weymouth Esplanade
The site was last used as an amusement arcade
More than twenty affordable flats have been approved for a site directly off Weymouth Esplanade.
The scheme will mean large extensions to the rear being demolished to make way for the new homes.
The site was last used as an amusement arcade, with the sea-facing Esplanade side having been recently redeveloped with ground floor commercial units and six flats.
Most of the new development will be to the rear, overlooking Gloucester Mews and a car park.
17 of the new flats will be two bedroom, and seven of them one bedroom.
Weymouth Town Council has welcomed the new development, which will be run by Sovereign Housing, saying that affordable homes are desperately needed in the town centre.
Similar views have come from Weymouth Civic Society who told Dorset Council in a letter supporting the proposals:
“We are pleased to see that the whole of the proposed extension will be for 100% affordable flats. This is a welcome change in approach, to develop the site in the wider interests of the local community.”
A previous application for 26 flats on the site was approved in 2019 but has since lapsed.
A statement from the housing association says there will be a long-term commitment to the development:
“Sovereign intends to purchase the site as part of its long-term plan within Dorset to provide affordable housing within the Weymouth town centre… It is our intention to provide both affordable rent properties for those who wish to downsize but be near suitable transport and social facilities and shared ownership units as starter homes for younger families. This will contribute to the freeing up of larger much needed homes elsewhere within the community.
"We have worked extensively with the developers to design and specify layouts that meet the nationally described space standards for living and storage spaces and well as taking into account sustainability … Sovereign’s long term intention is to provide units which are not just spaces for bodies and /or hitting target numbers, but to provide a building in which people can make long-term homes.”