In August 2022 a consultancy with a proven track record of property development were appointed to undertake assessments of two Council owned buildings. This commission was designed to establish if they are suitable (by alteration, or demolition and rebuild) to replace Raglan Court as the city’s flagship facility for homeless families.
In line with the brief, this consultancy procured a surveyor to:
- Provide Open Market Valuations for the two selected sites, as well as Raglan Court. This was required to shape judgements within the local authority regarding the future potential of each building.
- Identifying and reviewing additional sites in Plymouth suitable for homeless families’ provision. Eleven additional sites were identified, although, upon further investigation, most lacked the required affordability or availability. However, one of the identified sites, was briefly incorporated into the Council’s consideration for future homelessness provision and senior officers had discussions with a range of partners’ about the possibility of bringing this development forward.
Furthermore, architects were procured to provide an options appraisal for the original sites. Between September and December 2022, the Project Team met every other week to shape design options on both sites to ensure a cost-effective way of providing a site that could facilitate:
- Between 12 to 24 self-contained flats - including flexible options for one, two or three bedroom apartments.
- A controlled pedestrian access arrangement that can be supervised by on-site management.
- A space to deliver group sessions.
- A kitchen to teach culinary skills.
- A space to deliver a statutory homelessness service including meet and greet area as well as consultation and meeting rooms.
This allowed the advisers to provide two design options for each of the sites, in accordance with the city’s requirements. Following a period of additional consultation and amendments, the final report was produced, succinctly presenting the type of homeless families’ accommodation that could be provided on each site, and the projected costs in delivering each scheme.
Alongside project findings, PCC officers conducted additional investigations into the scale of additional benefits that would ensue by replacing Raglan Court. This has included: local authority revenue savings through a reduced need to fund homeless families’ accommodation in local B&Bs; the scale of carbon reduction and energy savings to be gained by using a thermally efficient building; and the reduction in PCC staffing costs required should the new site be owned and managed by a local Registered Provider. We have also conducted initial conversations with two of the cities’ largest RPs who have both expressed an interest in developing the proposed accommodation.
Following presentations of project findings to senior local authority officers and the PCC Cabinet Member for Housing and Communities, officers were granted approval to:
- Use the commissioned works to conduct a detailed SWOT analysis into the suitability of each site to provide homeless families’ accommodation in the city.
- Conduct further investigations into the scale of revenue savings that could be achieved by replacing Raglan Court with a modern, fit-for-purpose homeless families’ facility.
- Understand from interested Registered Providers the financial viability of the above options (including how much PCC would need to contribute to project delivery).
- Assess whether the above options are eligible to benefit from Brownfield Land Release Funding (BLRF).
These investigations led to the selection of a preferred site. However, it remains an expensive proposal. PCC are therefore commissioning further works to ascertain whether additional floors could be safely added to the building, delivering an additional six to ten flats. This would further meet need and deliver a more financially viable scheme. The primary consideration is whether adding additional floors would be considered safe by a structural engineer.