Derelict Torbay hotels could become homes for local families

First scheme to be set in motion next week

Dozens of Torbay’s former hotels and guest houses could be turned into affordable new homes for local families and key workers.

The bay’s councillors will vote next week on a plan to launch a ‘Hotels For Homes’ strategy to re-purpose old buildings as a way of solving the area’s housing crisis.

A £3 million government grant will fund the initiative, and the first step will be to buy 14 completed flats from a ‘respected’ local developer who is already working on a plan to convert an old hotel. The exact location has not been disclosed, but contracts could be exchanged in November and the first residents could move in autumn next year.

The plan will be discussed at a special meeting of the Torbay Council cabinet next week, the day before the full council meets.

A report for the cabinet says that while the Torbay area regularly delivered up to 180 new affordable homes every year in the early 2000s, with a peak of 273 in 2013/14, the current rate is just 36 homes a year.

The report goes on to say that the bay has large amounts of ‘unviable’ leisure and holiday accommodation such as former hotels, bed and breakfasts, and guest houses. The council plans to buy them and convert them into new homes. 

The report adds: “An increase in supply is a highly beneficial outcome, but the additional benefit is that it can help prevent such sites entering a state of dereliction, as well as helping to prevent anti-social behaviour, and avoiding the plethora of public health issues associated with such sites.”

Unlike private developers who seldom come up with enough affordable homes, the council says it will deliver 100 per cent affordable housing to provide homes for local households.

The properties will be let through the Devon Home Choice service to eligible households with a local connection to Torbay. The council says it also intends to make the sites attractive to households where at least one adult works in a key industry such as the NHS, where a lack of good-quality affordable housing has a direct impact on recruiting and keeping staff.

“Providing homes for local workers is essential to ensure the long-term sustainability and health of our population,” says the report.