Council signs off first phase of Somers Orchard redevelopment
Portsmouth cabinet has approved plans for new council flats to replace the former Horatia and Leamington towers.
Portsmouth City Council is set to seek a contractor for the first phase of its Somerstown social housing project, with construction due to start in summer 2027 and finish by early 2030.
The scheme will feature three blocks of four, 10 and 18 storeys. All homes will be managed by Portsmouth Homes and allocated via a special lettings policy to ensure a balanced community, including former Horatia and Leamington residents.
Plans also include shared gardens, two commercial units and a publicly accessible Changing Places toilet. Funding support is being sought from Homes England and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
Phase one centres on Block C, on land bordered by Melbourne Place, Earlsdon Street and Wiltshire Street, south of the Ibis Hotel on Winston Churchill Avenue. It will deliver 175 one, two and three-bedroom homes, along with ground-floor shops, a communal lobby and courtyard gardens.
Councillor Steve Pitt, leader of the council, said the problem with the project, for a long time, was viability due to building control changes after Grenfell and an “enormous rise” in the cost of building materials.
He said that, together with material costs, fewer grants made available to local authorities is holding up council home development nationwide.
“There are still thousands of housing projects across the country stuck because the government’s deaf as to the reasons why they are.
“If you want to start addressing inter-generational poverty and improving aspirations, decent places to live matter, it’s fundamental to a successful life.”
Cllr Darren Sanders, cabinet leader for housing and tackling homelessness said he’s “delighted for the people whose dream this is”.
Three sites make up the remaining phases of Somers Orchard: Block A (98 affordable homes), Block B (249 build-to-rent homes, 20 per cent at affordable private rent) and Block D (46 supported affordable units with community space).
Together they will provide 393 homes, in addition to the 175 delivered in phase one.