PLANS have been put forward to repurpose a community room and former older persons’ apartments into medium to long-term housing for the homeless. 

The settled accommodation, at 35-59 Maes Emlyn in Rhyl, will be for individuals who have previously presented themselves to Denbighshire County Council as homeless. 

People will be able to stay for a minimum of six months and will be given support to find permanent homes.

The application has been submitted by Denbighshire County Council. Proposals involve the change of use of an existing block on the site, which contains 24 older persons’ apartments, the former warden’s accommodation and community rooms, to provide 24 settled homes for those who have presented themselves to the local authority as homeless. 

A Design and Access Statement into plans says: "The use proposed is the provision of settled accommodation for a period of not less than six months for citizens who have previously presented to the county council as being homeless together with accommodation for the support services required to assist them on the pathway to finding permanent homes.

"The proposal will deliver 24 units of settled accommodation and 401m2 of floor space for the provision of support services."

The building could be used for the scheme for five years.

The document adds: "The Welsh Government is committed to making homelessness rare, brief and unrepeated. Its vision is that whilst prevention of homelessness should always remain the primary focus, when this has not worked, Rapid Rehousing is then essential to reduce the impact of homelessness and ensure it is unrepeated.

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"The vision in the county council’s Rapid Rehousing Transition Plan is that 'Everyone is supported with pride to live in homes that meet their needs, within the vibrant and sustainable communities Denbighshire aspires to'. To deliver this vision, the county council aims to reduce its reliance on, and the time homeless citizens spend in temporary emergency accommodation. The county council has made a commitment to develop its own in-house quality accommodation."

As of April 2022, there were 179 households in temporary emergency accommodation and a further 88 in temporary leased accommodation awaiting suitable and affordable permanent tenancies.

"The largest proportion of these are single and couple households under the age of 35," the statement added. 

"The residents of the former older persons’ apartment complex at Maes Emlyn, which mainly comprised one-bedroom units, were relocated to accommodation which was more appropriate to their needs. The council’s long-term vision for the site is to redevelop it to provide modern, social rented homes which meet unmet housing need. However, in the medium term there is an opportunity to bring part of the site back into use to provide settled accommodation of a size that is appropriate to meet the requirements of the majority of the households in temporary accommodation.

"The vision for the site is therefore to change the use of part of the site to provide 24 number units of self-contained quality settled accommodation with 24/7 onsite support, and to establish a hub in the former community room to provide access to range of multi-disciplinary support and engagement activities to assist households to become 'tenancy ready'."