Fully affordable housing scheme proposed for Mansfield
Plans for a scheme of fully affordable housing on vacant Mansfield land have been submitted to the district council.
Applicants Bowsall Developments Ltd and Futures Homescape Ltd applied to Mansfield District Council on Monday, May 19, for 34 affordable homes.
The properties are proposed for land west of Balmoral Drive
The site sits within an existing residential area of the town and was the home of the former Balmoral Lodge Nursing Home.
But it currently exists as a patch of vacant brownfield land.
Developers wish to provide 34 social rent homes comprising of 24 two-bed and 10 three-bed.
They would all be classed as ‘affordable’.
If approved, four of the two-bed homes would be bungalows, with all homes “developed to reflect and be sensitive to the local context and character” papers say.
Each home would also be provided with two car parking spaces.
Developers say a new vehicle and pedestrian access point is planned from Balmoral Drive
A completely separate application for 35 homes is currently active for the site – with this first submitted by a charitable trust in 2015.
The council’s planning committee previously agreed to grant outline permission for these plans, but legal negotiations regarding the scheme’s community financial contributions “stalled without conclusion” and went undetermined.
These legal discussions started up again and plans were assessed, with the authority’s planning committee approving the scheme a second time in October 2024 – subject to its community financial contributions.
However, the council’s planning portal suggests that this same legal agreement still has yet to be finalised with the application “awaiting decision”.
Future Homescape Ltd is a not-for-profit organisation that provides affordable homes in the East Midlands.
It has a current stock of more than 10,300 homes and “provides a commitment from the Board to develop 250 affordable homes per year” according to planning papers.
If approved, the organisation would manage the properties in future and be responsible for the maintenance of all public landscaped areas.
The council will decide on the fresh application at a later stage.