COVENTRY MESSAGE BOARD

New supported flats for homeless families could be built in Coventry



Citizen has put forward plans for a temporary housing block in Tile Hill.

The three-storey building on Faseman Avenue would have 50 apartments and six members of staff. It would go on an overgrown site that was home to a community centre which was demolished in 2019.

Residents of the scheme would get support with household tasks like budgeting and cooking, a planning document says. The "overall aim" is to help families become ready to rent permanent homes, it adds.

People would lease flats at a social rent and stay for a maximum year and a half. The building would be mostly one-bedroom flats - 32 out of 50 - with some two and three-bedroom homes.

The report admits there is a "shortfall in apartment size" meaning the scheme would not completely meet national space standards. But it stresses people would only stay there short-term and claims the lack of space is offset by shared indoor and outdoor spaces.

The statement highlights a "critical need" for this kind of housing in the city. It also claims responses from 13 locals on the plans in May had more positive than negative feedback on the proposals.

The report admits some people had concerns about parking and number of one bedroom flats. Citizen says they are looking at ways to improve local parking and aim to provide supported homes for a range of family sizes as well as single households.

The housing association lodged plans with the council last month. But in June, over 60 people signed a petition opposing the group's proposal for a 50-bed temporary housing scheme on the road.

It claimed the move would affects locals' privacy, parking and cause noise, and criticised the building's density. But the plans also come after a meeting heard of a huge demand for this kind of housing in the city, with over 900 families currently temporary accommodation - more than double the numbers two years ago.

Coventry council officers have not yet made a decision on the scheme. Plans can be viewed on the council planning portal via reference: PL/2024/0002356/FULM.

Flats for homeless Coventry families will go ahead despite outcry



Flats for 50 homeless Coventry families will be built in Tile Hill despite a local outcry. Councillors approved the three-storey supported temporary housing block on Faseman Avenue at a meeting last Thursday, 20 March.

It comes as more city families fall homeless, with almost 950 currently in temporary housing compared with 790 in February last year. The scheme is designed to help the "most vulnerable" people who could be forced to stay in B&Bs or hotels, council meeting papers said.

Citizen and the council put forward joint plans to build on the former community centre site which has been empty for six years. It will replace Frank Walsh House, a 1980s building in Hillfields converted into temporary housing five years ago which is now set to be demolished.

But the bid sparked a backlash among residents, with more than 300 people signing petitions against the bid to redevelop the land. They raised ten different concerns about the scheme including fears of higher crime, noise pollution and traffic, and claimed it would not add positively to the area.

An objector speaking at the meeting called the scheme's parking spaces "inadequate," and living space in flats "cramped." He claimed the plans are "incompatible" with the area and do not include extra services to support it such as doctors and schools.

"The area is already [a] deprived area and suffering with antisocial behaviour and a high crime rate," he added. He concluded by telling the meeting: "[...]the local residents' concerns and worries hasn't been listened [to] properly."

Councillors criticised the flats' size and voiced concerns about the impact on locals, though they stressed the need to support vulnerable people. Councillor John McNicholas (Lab, Lower Stoke ) pointed out six of the eight apartment types would be below national space standards.

He said it is "vital" they get people out of private sector accommodation but asked officials to explain why they had accepted smaller rooms. He asked: "Are we just squeezing as many units in to get as many people out of private accommodation?"

Another member of the ruling Labour group, Catherine Miks (Lower Stoke) asked why there were not fewer flats and more space, adding: "because this is a lot of units and it is beginning to look like a prison block."

Cllr Miks also expressed concern over how temporary housing is affecting local facilities. "We really need to be looking at how these impact on our community," she told the meeting.

"Vulnerable people need a space, of course they do, we want to protect them all. We also need to look at the infrastructure, on the impact on the residents."

Planning committee members voted unanimously to delegate permission for the scheme to officers.

It means the building will go ahead once a legal agreement and any other conditions needed are in place.