A councillor has slammed the decision to sell a derelict town centre site at a loss for new housing saying time and money has been “wasted”.

Councillor Kevin Jenkins, leader of Worthing’s Conservative group, said the decision to sell the Teville Gate site to Homes England for £5 million has “hammered the final nail in the coffin” of the hopes of families in Worthing who are “desperate” for a home.

Homes England offered to buy the site from Worthing Borough Council for £5.1m as part of its plans to build around 250 new homes.

Teville Gate, which once was the site of a shopping centre, was bought by the council for £7 million in 2021.

During a recent question and answer session Councillor Dr Beccy Cooper, leader of Worthing Borough Council, said the previous administration paid "over the odds" for the site.

The council said securing the £5.1m sale will deliver savings in interest payments of “£850k over three years, plus retaining a budgeted £100k per annum in parking income, in addition to any meanwhile-use returns”.

But Cllr Jenkins said Labour councillors were “washing their hands” of the site and “losing the opportunity to influence the supply of new homes”.

He says the council has wasted time and taxpayers’ money.

"This decision has resulted from the prevarication of this Labour council,” he said.

“The initial three-year period to work with and move on this site with a developer and get spades in the ground has been lost and now we are seeing them off-load it from the council's books and wash their hands of it.

“Homes England is not a developer, they are a government-owned regeneration agency, who will now landbank this site whilst they tout it around for a developer.”

Homes England has leased the site back to the council for up to three years while a development scheme is prepared.

The council is currently considering ways to use the site for the community in the meantime.

The councillor said a previous deal with Hyde Housing Association that would have seen a 343-unit development comprised entirely of affordable homes was “abandoned” in 2022.

“In doing so they have not only lost over £2.3m in capital receipts for the site, they have sacrificed 128 homes, public car parking and employment for local people," he said.

“Crucially the 2022 agreement would have been developed as 100 per cent affordable housing comprising approximately 40 per cent as social rent and 60 per cent as shared ownership.

“Now this agreement with Homes England is only promising 20 per cent affordable housing with a nod to a suggestion it might supply more, a major blow to local people's ambitions to have their own home.”

A council report, presented to Worthing's joint strategic sub-committee, said a “likely outcome” could be a proportion of affordable homes above the local plan requirement of 20 per cent “and/or being able to offer support in addressing a mixed-tenure housing approach to address the wider needs of Worthing”.

Councillor Dr Cooper and Councillor Caroline Baxter, Worthing’s cabinet member for regeneration, did not respond to The Argus’ request for comment.

Cllr Cooper, on the announcement of the sale, said last week: "We have chosen to partner with Homes England as the catalyst for the regeneration of Teville Gate into a vibrant, sustainable community hub featuring genuinely affordable homes that our citizens need.

“Our ambition remains the creation of sustainable, high-quality and genuinely affordable homes for our residents. We believe Homes England is the ideal partner to realise those ambitions for Worthing."