Almshouse provider in bid to build homes for the elderly

GATESHEAD Council has received a planning application to build 42 apartments and 11 bungalows on the site of a former library and playing field.

The applicant, the charity and almshouse provider The Hospital of King James, wants to “replace and upgrade” its existing housing stock and sheltered accommodation with the development on on Sunderland Road.

The Hospital of King James stated in the application the new homes would be there to serve “Gateshead residents of limited financial means”.

The proposed apartment building will be a pitched three to four-storey building compromising one to two bedroom flats.

The application also states the charity has identified a suitable area for a replacement playing field, 170 metres to the east of Sunderland Road.

Edwards Architecture, a firm based in North Shields, has been retained to design the new homes. The company was also responsible for the design of Lynwood Care facility and Willowburn hospice, both located in Stanley.

According to the Almshouse Association, an almshouse is “a unit of residential accommodation (usually a house or flat) which belongs to a charity, is provided exclusively to meet the charity’s purposes (for example, the relief of financial need or infirmity) and is occupied or is available for occupation under a licence by a qualified beneficiary”.

Occupants usually contribute financially to the management of the homes but the transaction is legally distinct from rent.

There are more than 30,000 almshouse dwellings across the UK, providing affordable accommodation to more than 36,000 residents.

Occupants tend to be of retirement age or older.

Figures from the Local Government Association, working with 370 councils in England and Wales, estimated back in 2017, elderly homelessness was set to double by 2025. Almshouses are the oldest form of social housing, the oldest foundation still in operation dates back to 990AD.