Boutique Collapse
KENT BARKER
Hastings Borough Council is seeking urgent information on the apparent collapse of their council housing partner Boutique Design.
The modular homes manufacturer and builder has filed to enter administration, leaving its joint project with the council to build sixteen homes at Bexhill Road, St Leonards, in limbo.
A council spokesperson said: “We are aware of the announcement about Boutique Modern… we are waiting for further information about what happens next and how this impacts our plans for this site.”
Earlier in the year, as work started on the homes, council leader Glenn Haffenden said: “I’m really excited to see the new homes that are being built on the Bexhill Road site. They are going to be the first council homes for many years. It has been great to speak to the team from Boutique Modern about where on the site the homes will be and how they will work for residents. This is an exciting step forward in the council’s dedication to provide much needed homes that local people can afford.”
As Hastings Independent Press reported in July, outline planning permission for the development was granted to the council by its own planning committee in 2019, despite objections that the land lies within a flood plain which is at risk of inundation after heavy rainfall as well as from high tides – and has a history of subjection to sewage leaks. After an earlier refusal of permission on these grounds, the ground floor levels throughout the development were ‘strategically raised’. Three of the nine councillors on the committee still opposed the grant of permission, but a majority accepted experts’ advice that an incorporated array of flood mitigation measures would be effective. Other planning conditions were discharged last month allowing building to proceed.
Boutique Modern also had partnerships or contracts with local councils to build homes in Eastbourne and Lancing.
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