As Southend Council faces the uphill challenge of tackling its 1,400-strong housing waiting list and developing a huge local plan to dictate where homes will be built over the next two decades, several long-awaited developments are set to get off the ground this year.
In the biggest application, the former HMRC office block in Alexander House, in Victoria Avenue, is to be turned into a striking block of 557 flats.
The building will include five distinct areas – the East Pavilion, West City, East Street, West Pavilion, and East City blocks – and the project aims to modernise the site opposite Southend Victoria train station and create a new, and bright, gateway into the city.
This scheme was previously dubbed “mini-Manhattan” by Conservative councillor Colin Campbell. However, Southend Council are keen to stress the level of scrutiny involved in getting the right mix of developments.
Torn down – The Meadow Grange site (Image: Newsquest)
New homes and shops – The Old Empire Theatre (Image: Southend Planning Portal)
Controversial plans to replace the former Churchill’s Diner building could get under way after being approved in recent months.
Other long-awaited developments are set to get off the ground this year, to build hundreds of homes.
In April, the finer details of plans for former NHS land at Fossetts Farm were approved and work is due to begin shortly on 131 modular homes, including 40 homes classed as affordable. Additional affordable homes are being planned thanks to a £12million investment to build 30 “eco homes” off the A127.
The homes feature triple-glazing, ventilation, solar panels and sustainable drainage with a “drought-resistant” garden and have minimal heating costs.
The Tyler’s Avenue green-lit block (Image: Vikesh Kotecha)
Southend Council Labour leader, Daniel Cowan, believes that his party is committed to taking firm action to address Southend’s housing waiting list.
He said: “We believe can help deliver the affordable homes that Southend desperately needs.
“We are starting 2025 with more than 1,400 households on out waiting list and we have been in a housing crisis for over a decade, we now have a government that is passionately focused on resolving that.
“We have to work hand in hand with developers to deliver our targets in the area, but we also need to develop the homes needed in the appropriate way with the right amount of infrastructure.”
Plans for Alexander House (Image: Newsquest)
Mr Cowan wants residents to be reassured the council is committed to tackling the housing challenges alongside the Government while ensuring improvements are made to infrastructure and affordable housing schemes benefit the people who need them most.
He said: “We understand the concerns and that’s why we were putting extra effort into improving transport networks, investing into our roads, pursuing a skills and jobs agenda to create opportunities, and to hold MSE NHS to account over the downgrading of services.
“Affordable housing in the approved schemes would go to local people on our waiting list, getting them into appropriate accommodation and helping those families who are hosting relatives to downsize and free up more larger family homes in Southend.”
Cleared – The former site of Nazareth House (Image: Martin Halliday)
Plans – 131 homes have been greenlit for Fossetts Farm (Image: Southend Planning Portal)
Earlier this year, Nazareth House in London Road, Westcliff, was torn down and work is set to begin shortly on a 144-home retirement village.
At the start of 2024, plans for 22 flats and seven shops at the former Empire Theatre, in Alexandra Street, were approved however work is yet to start after the developer lodged an appeal in the hope of building 27 flats instead.
Other major developments, including 70 homes on the site of the former Cantel Medical Site, in Shoebury, and 214 homes on Barge Pier Road will begin to take shape this year with work already under way on the site.
Both will deliver 30 per cent affordable housing.
The council is taking action around infrastructure through investment in a new diagnostic centre in the Victoria Centre as well as continual improvements to bus services which have seen a £2.5 million boost.
Impact of devolution
A full plan detailing the future of Southend’s housing supply for the next 20 years is on course to be fully published in 2026, yet this could be revised as plans for devolution across Essex have been revealed.
Southend Council is set to publish its local plan in 2026 outlining the plots of land that will be used for housing, employment and growth in the decades to come.
The draft local plan was drawn up in 2021 with no final decision made as to which sites would be developed on.
The process is set to go into the “preferred approach” consultation in 2025 which will narrow down options for the final local plan as the city tries to fulfil a 23,620 requirement by 2040.
Potential home sites flagged in the current plan include the 1,859 new homes at Fossetts Farm with allocations for 5,345 homes on green belt land.
However, Labour leader Daniel Cowan noted that the future of current unitary authorities is uncertain, as the Labour Government revealed their white paper on devolution last month which could see councils broken into new and larger unitary organisations.
Southend’s new local plan is being created along with others across south Essex. Castle Point have just completed an “issues and options” consultation putting forward sites for 2023 to 2043 and Basildon’s draft plan, which includes 27,111 homes across the borough.