Council to Convert Douglas House, Above Lidl in Tonbridge, Into 20 Homes for Homeless Families

Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council has entered into an agreement for lease on a development of 20 one- and two-bedroom flats at Douglas House, the office building above Lidl on Quarry Hill Road, Tonbridge, which it will use to provide short-term temporary accommodation. The council has committed to lease the flats once the building's owners have finished converting them from office space - Douglas House sits close to the town centre and Tonbridge station, on the corner of Quarry Hill Road and Waterloo Road.

The flats will go to local families with a connection to the borough who become homeless and whom the council has a legal duty to house. Cllr Robin Betts, the council's Cabinet Member for Housing, Environment and Economy, said: "We're very pleased to be providing these extra homes for temporary housing. They are in a sustainable location - close to the town centre, railway station and importantly within the borough. Everyone has a right to a decent place to live, and we are proud to be able to support local families from Tonbridge and Malling who find themselves needing emergency housing at short notice to stay within the local area."

It's the latest in a run of moves the council has made to tackle the same pressure. Around 100 households across the borough currently need temporary accommodation, and relying on the open market to house them costs the council roughly £2.2 million a year - money a dedicated, in-borough scheme like this one is designed to claw back over time. It follows the council's modular homes scheme at Blue Bell Hill, which broke ground in August with 12 new permanent units aimed at the same problem. Neither scheme will clear the backlog on its own, but together they mark a shift from paying for emergency placements towards owning or controlling the housing stock outright.

No date has been given yet for when the conversion will finish or the first families will move in.

Source: Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council. The building has been named as Douglas House by Cllr Matt Boughton, Leader of the Council.