Work imminent on new flats at 20-year vacant site

Plans for 34 apartments at a derelict site in Ashford can now go ahead, the council has announced

Redevelopment works at a building in Kent that has been vacant for two decades are "on the verge of starting", a council has said.

Hoardings will be put up around Swanton House in October ahead of the building's demolition, which will start "soon", Ashford Borough Council said.

The site in Elwick Road will be replaced by 34 apartments after council-owned developer A Better Choice for Property secured planning consent.

The council's planning committee granted permission in 2021, subject to conditions, which officials said on Thursday had now been met and "the scheme should be permitted".

A Better Choice for Property purchased the site in 2019 and plans to rent out the flats once they are built, the local authority said.

The developer said the planned new building was designed to reflect the streetscape and "the local conservation architecture that the previous Swanton House proudly emphasised".

The building served as an auxiliary military hospital in the World War One and was later used by Kent County Council's social services department, according to the council.