Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council has approved a £4 million scheme to build 12 temporary homes on a former commuter coach car park at Blue Bell Hill, targeting homeless households in the north of the borough.
Homeless families and individuals in Aylesford could soon be housed locally rather than shipped miles away, after councillors gave the go-ahead to transform the disused Blue Bell Hill commuter coach car park into 12 self-contained, two-bedroom temporary homes. The site’s been empty since 2023, when it was shut down amid falling use and anti-social behaviour.
Award-winning modular housing company Zed Pods will build the units off-site in a factory before assembling them at Blue Bell Hill — a method the council says will speed up delivery and cause less grief for neighbours than traditional construction. Each home will have solar panels and a heat pump, meaning lower energy bills for residents.
The £4 million cost breaks down as follows:
- £2.2 million from the national Local Authority Housing Fund (a government grant scheme that helps councils house homeless and vulnerable people)
- £1.4 million from council reserves
- Up to £1 million from developer contributions
Not a bad funding package, as these things go. An on-site office will be staffed by housing officers supporting residents day to day. Blue Bell Hill was chosen partly for its proximity to public transport, a supermarket and a children’s nursery — practical stuff that matters when you’re trying to get back on your feet.
The timetable is tight. Site preparation and factory construction begin spring 2026. On-site assembly follows that summer, with completed homes expected to be ready spring 2027.
The council has already taken councillors to visit the Peterborough factory where the units will be built, and posted about the scheme on social media. Site preparation gets under way ahead of the spring 2026 start.
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