A proposed affordable housing development in Swanage, Dorset – aimed at providing social rent homes for keyworkers with a strong connection to the town – attracted significant interest at a consultation event.
Swanage Community Housing, a not for profit community land trust formed to provide genuinely affordable living accommodation, revealed its proposal at a public drop in session on Wednesday 3rd September 2025 in The Studio at The Mowlem on Shore Road.
The architect’s visualisation of how the development will look
The housing will be built away from the flood plain marked in blue
Steady stream of local residents
The undeniably hot topic attracted a steady stream of local residents who were keen to ask questions and find out more about the housing and who could benefit from the small housing development.
The proposal is to build eight homes on land located on the corner of Washpond Lane and Ulwell Road, available to keyworkers with strong Swanage ties on a social rent basis, which is 60 percent of the average local market rent.
The eight properties will be one and two bedroom homes to meet the most urgent need according to Dorset Council’s housing register.
The Studio at The Mowlem hosted the drop in session
Hastoe regional development manager Chris Meadows is keen to make it happen for the local community
“It’s a good scheme on an appropriate scale”
The scheme will be managed by the housing association Hastoe, which specialises in developments in rural communities.
Hastoe regional development manager Chris Meadows said:
“The most rewarding moment of my job is when families move into the new housing and now, I can picture that happening in Swanage.
“It’s a good scheme on an appropriate scale, backed by the passion of the community and I’m glad that we can help achieve the goal of providing social rent housing for key workers with strong ties to Swanage.
“The Swanage Community Housing team is an enthusiastic group with a real breadth of skills – including a lawyer and architect – combined with the strong desire to achieve the goal of getting people into homes.
“For many who move in, it will be their only real option of getting a home. Often people will have had to move out of the area, or be sofa surfing, so it’s good to be able to make this happen for them.”
The plans were on display at the consultation and are also available online
Director of MH Architects Nat King-Smith wants to get feedback on the plans
“Ring fence homes for those in need in the community”
The plans have been drawn up by MH Architects, following feedback from local residents after an initial public consultation in January 2024 and pre-planning advice from Dorset Council.
Director of MH Architects Nat King-Smith said:
“Potentially there could be a higher density of properties on this plot but we want it to stand the test of time in this location. We also need to factor in that it is an edge of town site, so people will need space to park cars.
“We wanted to retain as much of the natural hedging as possible and were mindful of the risk of flooding from the stream, although the watercourse provides an opportunity to increase bio diversity by planting up some of the boggy areas.
“The proposal is to build the homes using red brick, clay tiles, timber effect cladding and natural stone.
“They’ll have to achieve Hastoe’s high energy efficiency standards, so will be highly insulated with electric heating systems – possibly heat pumps – but definitely not gas powered. There’s an ongoing discussion about solar panels!
“However, we’d like to hear what people think of the design, the materials, and the features of the properties. This is a good opportunity to ring fence homes for those in need in the community.”
The land on the corner of Ulwell Road and Washpond Lane already has a lot of hedging and biodiversity which Swanage Community Housing is aiming to retain and improve
Chair of Swanage Community Housing Claire Barnes welcomed the high level of interest in the project
“A lot of positive feedback”
The land is currently owned by Dorset Council so the next step is to complete the transferral of the site to the community land trust. This has been in progress for a while and is on the verge of completion.
Further ecology studies need to be completed, which are planned for spring 2026, and it’s expected a full planning application to Dorset Council will follow in the second half of 2026.
Chair of Swanage Community Housing Claire Barnes said:
“We’re really pleased with the level of interest for the scheme – in just the first hour of the drop in session, we had an estimated 60 people through the door.
“It’s great so many local residents came along and we’ve had a lot of positive feedback.
“Now it’s a case of collating everyone’s views and reflecting them as best as we can in the full planning application. If it all goes to plan, we hope to get building in 2027!”
Further information
- View the architect’s proposals
- Give feedback and/or register an interest in one of the homes via the Hastoe website
- More about Swanage Community Housing
- More about MH Architects
