As the cost of temporary accommodation rises across the county, 23 new homeless units are being built in Ashford.
They are designed to be an energy-efficient alternative to building new homes, but is the plan at a flood-hit car park something that could be rolled out to other parts of Kent? Liane Castle reports.
“Living in a car wasn’t a good time for us, one of these pods would be better than the streets.”
Quick’s assessment on Friday of Ashford Borough Council’s Henwood Industrial Estate project – the first of its kind in the county – would surely agree with others facing a similar situation.
She and her partner, Richard Warrior, of Chatham, became homeless in 2022 after being served a Section 21 – a so-called no-fault eviction notice that allows landlords to evict a tenant without giving a reason.
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After spending three weeks living in their car, the couple say they would love to be offered a pod in their time of need.
“I think more councils should be doing things like this,” says Ms Quick, 51.
“After two years we’re still in temporary accommodation and we’re having problems with it, so I’d definitely take one.”
Called Fortis House, the scheme features ABC’s first net-zero carbon properties, designed to give people a temporary roof over their heads while they look for permanent homes.
Suppliers lifted the first of the 12-tonne pods into place in March, and the last batch was delivered last month.
The short-term accommodation project, which is being built on the former Henwood car park next to Ashford fire station, is on track for completion in September, with the first residents due to move in shortly after.
The authority is managing the project with Zed Pods, a British modular company based in London that designs and builds the homes in a factory before delivering and installing them on site.
Council bosses successfully applied for money from Homes England for the scheme.
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The Government is contributing £80,000 per unit, making a total of £1,840,000 towards the £7.4 million cost of the scheme, with the ABC covering the remainder.
Responses to Freedom of Information (FoI) requests by KentOnline last year revealed that every council in the county saw spending on temporary accommodation rise, with large sums going to private landlords.
The statistics showed that costs at Ashford rose from £739,749 in 2018-19 to £1,952,648 in 2022-23 – an increase of 163.9%.
Cllr Noel Ovenden (Ashford Independents), who has led the ABC since last May, says the homelessness problem in Ashford is “enormous” so his focus is on the authority doing all it can to alleviate it.
The authority has long-term ambitions to convert Park Mall into residential and is considering converting its current Civic Center site in Tannery Lane into social housing when it moves to nearby International House.
“I don’t like to build at all costs,” says Cllr Ovenden, who represents Wye.
“They have to give something back to us as a community, as a city, to look at the bigger picture and make it a better place. It is hard work.
“We will continue despite accusations that all we want is to build apartments.
“ABC doesn’t just go there to build apartments. But if those apartments were all social housing, if they were all pulling people from our 2,000-strong waiting list for housing, I wouldn’t be ashamed of it.
“Building your own social housing is the best way forward.
“People think the council is only there to knock it down and make flats because there is a perception that the council tax that residents provide is all the council cares about.
“I don’t care about that. I care about my city.”
The converted shipping containers were originally intended for use at Fortis House, but bosses say the Zed Pods are greener because they have been designed to be energy efficient.
The houses will be highly insulated and triple glazed, with 175 solar panels on the roof.
The 23 units are a combination of 13 singles, nine doubles and one triple to provide accommodation for both individuals and families.
There is a large communal garden and parking spaces for 19 cars are included in the price, including two disabled spaces.
Each apartment is occupied by one household with its own kitchen, bathroom and private balcony.
There is additional storage space under the apartments for things such as bicycles.
The ABC, which has been led by the Ashford Independents/Green Party coalition since last May, approved the scheme in 2022 – despite concerns about the likelihood of flooding as the site sits next to the River Stour.
The former car park has been flooded in the past but according to the ABC this is not a problem as the houses are to be built on stilts which will raise them to a height of 2.4m.
In another update issued this week, the authority says it has to cut down “dead and dying trees” on land next to the site to “protect surrounding property”.
Dr. Rehan Khodabuccus, CTO of Zed Pods, hopes the system will help people find their feet.
“Having your own front door and your own keys makes a really big difference in people’s lives,” he said.
“In schemes we’ve completed elsewhere, we’ve found that it’s created an upward spiral for people.
“So the people who got in place got a good job, kept that job, and that then led to future employment.
“Meeting these basic needs is very important and we hope we have done it in a way that not only protects the people who are moving, but also protects the environment and also looks at creating the homes we will need in the future now. .”
Dr. Khodabuccus says designing a scheme on a former car park is something that is also proving to be a challenge.
“At Ashford, we have learned a lot from other programs around the country,” he added.
“We had to ask how do we create a scheme where land is limited and how could we use brownfield instead of looking at greenfields to deliver high quality homes?
“Not only do we have high environmental requirements, but we’re actually building over an existing car park, so the land couldn’t be developed in any other shape or form.”
Dr. Khodabuccus says the units “use a lot of natural daylight inside, so they’re nice and light and airy.”
He added: “As part of the energy strategy we have introduced controlled ventilation and this means you will have lots of fresh air but keep the heat in the building which will reduce energy bills.
“You also have solar panels that generate more energy than the building uses in a year.
“There are lots of nice floor finishes that are durable but nice and bright, very neutral color decor inside and the natural daylight makes it a really nice place to live.
“Our buildings also have breathable walls, which means moisture doesn’t get trapped inside the building, so there’s a very low risk of condensation inside the building, which means a low risk of mold growth.
“We’re really focused on addressing the key issues that have emerged in social housing recently.”
While the pods are the first of their kind in Ashford, a similar scheme for single people using SoloHaus Pods is also on the cards in Gravesend.
Developer The Hill Group has donated eight blocks to Gravesham Borough Council to tackle the rise in homelessness in the borough, although plans for the scheme are only emerging.
Dr Khodabuccus says he would like to see similar projects spread across Kent.
“We currently have about seven schemes with planning approval across the country and another 10 or so in planning or various stages of construction,” he added.
“So we really go through as many houses as we can across the UK.
“There is great potential in many different parts of Kent to look at some of those local authority sites that may have been overlooked for housing.”