Care home site to become homeless accommodation

The site has been empty since 2017 and will now be demolished and cleared

A disused Sheffield care home will be demolished in order to build emergency accommodation for homeless people.

The former Knowle Hill residential home in Halfway has been vacant since it closed in 2017.

It will be demolished and a new £6.7m accommodation block will be built consisting of 25 units, along with office space.

The proposals were unanimously approved with demolition expected to start in the next few weeks, Dermot Reader from Sheffield City Council's housing growth delivery service said.

The current building on Streetfields was leased by charity SheffCare, however it has recently seen anti-social behaviour and vandalism.

The empty site was proposed for temporary accommodation in 2020, and was approved for housing purposes on Wednesday at a meeting of the council's finance sub-committee.

New council homes

It was decided that because of damage caused by anti-social behaviour and the layout of the site, new purpose-built accommodation was the best option.

Funding will be sought for the new building in the next financial year, Mr Reader told councillors.

The council's stock increase programme has been looking at expanding the amount of council housing in the city.

A report ahead of Wednesday's meeting said the demand for temporary accommodation had increased significantly since 2018, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

On 30 June 2022, there were 260 households in local authority or housing association places, plus 123 households in bed and breakfasts or hotels.

The total cost of emergency hotel and B&B places in 2021-22 was £3.65m, which is partly covered by housing benefit and grant funding.

Councillor Shaffaq Mohammed asked Mr Reader if the site was looked at to move Halfway Nursery Infant School from its current "polluted area" near the tram depot, to Knowle Hill, which is next to Halfway Junior School.

It was considered, however the council priorities for school redevelopment were for buildings which needed urgent repair or where there were shortfalls, Mr Reader said.

Meanwhile, councillor Marieanne Elliot asked why it took so long to consider redeveloping the site, with Mr Reader saying in future there will be a "wider approach" looking at council-owned assets and their best use, which will hopefully speed up the process.

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