Seaside town homes to be built after £1.7m grant

The council can now build 112 homes on the site

North Somerset Council has been handed more than £1.7m by the government to help it build homes in Weston-super-Mare's Dolphin Square, as part of £68m of grants nationwide.

The site, in a central location in the seaside town, between Oxford Street and Carlton Street, near the town hall, has been empty for years.

Despite plans to build houses there, a North Somerset Council report warned last November that the project would be "financially challenging" to deliver without extra funding, due to economic instability and high inflation at the time.

The boost will mean North Somerset Council can deliver 112 new homes, of which most will be affordable housing, says the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

North Somerset Council took over ownership of Dolphin Square from Homes England in 2022 and it now forms part of the council’s “development strategy” of council-owned sites they are planning to build on.

Mark Canniford, North Somerset Council's executive member for spatial planning, placemaking, and economy, said: "Dolphin Square is an exciting project for us, supporting local communities through delivery of much-needed affordable homes right in the centre of Weston-super-Mare."

'Vibrant community'

He said the project had been "developed in line with our prioritisation of bringing forward brownfield sites".

He added the "majority affordable homes", would ensure "our communities are vibrant and diverse, and with a central location with good access to jobs, transport, education and other facilities".

Announcing the funding, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: “I said this government is on the side of the builders, not the blockers. And I meant it.

“This funding for councils will see disused sites and industrial wastelands transformed into thousands of new homes in places that people want to live and work."