Flats for 50 homeless families to be built in Coventry, despite local opposition

A three-storey housing block in Tile Hill will be repurposed to house the “most vulnerable” homeless people, who would otherwise be forced to stay in B&Bs, hotels, or other temporary accommodation.  

This proposal aims to address the rise in the number of homeless families in the city, as 950 families now reside in temporary housing – a significant increase from the 790 families recorded in February last year. 

The project, proposed by housing provider Citizen, was approved on 20 March by the city council.

The complex will be built on the site of a demolished former community centre, and the 50 flats it contains will be leased to tenants at a social rent for up to a year and six months, during which tenants can gather the resources needed to move into independent, permanent housing.  

Most of the flats only contain one bedroom and fall under national space standards, but Citizen plans to compensate for this by offering more shared spaces both indoors and outside.  

However, the scheme has been met with backlash from some locals. A petition to the city council was made last June to oppose the complex’s construction, gathering 65 signatures.

The signatories cited concerns including insufficient parking spaces and increased traffic from the large number of tenants, along with increased noise from construction work and from the incoming tenants disturbing the local community.  

Opposition has since grown stronger, with over 300 people signing similar petitions with additional objections.

Head of Housing Jim Crawshaw defended the scheme as on par with other temporary accommodation and that it is “far preferable” to forcing the homeless to live in hotels

One local complained that “the area is already [a] deprived area and suffering with antisocial behaviour and a high crime rate”, and that local residents had their concerns ignored before the project was approved. 

The council’s approval was also not unanimous. Labour councillor John McNicholas criticised the lack of space in most flats, asking: “Are we just squeezing as many units in to get as many people out of private accommodation [as possible]?” 

Nonetheless, the council remains firm in its approval. While conceding that the limited space is “not ideal”, Head of Housing Jim Crawshaw defended the scheme as on par with other temporary accommodation and that it is “far preferable” to forcing the homeless to live in hotels.  

He stated that Coventry Council was “proud” to have no homeless families in B&Bs and that they “want to keep it that way”.