Press Release

19 September 2023

Demolition of Assheton Court begins

Fareham Borough Council has announced that demolition work has now begun on its Assheton Court site in Portchester.

Assheton Court was made up of 33 sheltered housing apartments, which were no longer fit for purpose. Fareham Housing secured planning consent to build 60 age restricted sheltered housing apartments on this site in January 2023.

The Council has worked with the remaining residents to help them move to new apartments at Sir Randal Cremer House, so that Assheton Court can be demolished and redeveloped. Once completed, the new Assheton Court will provide 60 sheltered housing apartments for the over 55s, with significant improvement in terms of facilities, accessibility, quality of build and layout.

The Council is taking a ‘greener’ approach wherever possible to ensure new homes and buildings are energy efficient, such as installing solar panels and air source heat pumps, and Assheton Court will be no exception. The existing building has also been stripped of anything that can be reused, with volunteers even coming in to remove all the plants and flowers to reallocate them elsewhere in the Borough.

Detailed technical plans for the development are being finalised in preparation for the tender process to start later this year to secure a building contractor.

Executive Member for Housing at Fareham Borough Council, Councillor David Foot said: “I am delighted that this demolition work has finally started as it brings us one step closer to 60 new sheltered housing apartments which are so needed in the Borough. With all the Assheton Court residents happily relocated to Sir Randal Cremer House and joined by other tenants from around Fareham, I am confident we are fulfilling our objective to provide the right housing for those most in need.”

For more information about Fareham Housing please visit: https://www.fareham.gov.uk/housing/intro.aspx

ENDS