Work has started on the conversion of a former youth centre into flats. Plans for five apartments at 24 Marine Place in Worthing were announced in March to house more people in the town amid a “severe shortage of social housing”. Now, contractors have begun working at the site to provide a mixture of one-bedroom and studio flats.
Homes England gave Worthing Borough Council £400,000 towards the costs of the project to convert the council’s empty offices there. READ MORE: Office building to be turned into 52 flats The building was previously used as a youth drop-in centre until 2021. Most recently, it was used as a winter night shelter for homeless people.
It is currently unoccupied. A spokesman for Worthing Borough Council said: “We’re currently having to house well over 200 local households away from Worthing because of a severe shortage of social housing here. “While some of those households are staying in flats or houses in other parts of West Sussex , some are having to be housed outside the county - many miles away from their jobs, their children’s schools and their families and friends.
” The council hopes that the flats will be ready for new tenants in the summer of next year..