Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council has secured planning permission for 12 self-contained temporary homes on the former Blue Bell Hill commuter car park near Aylesford, at an estimated cost of around £4 million.
Families the council is legally obliged to house will be offered the new homes once they’re ready. The site — a former coach car park shut in 2023 after years of dwindling use and anti-social behaviour problems — will be fitted with energy-efficient units built off-site by Zed Pods Limited and assembled at Blue Bell Hill.
Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council posted the update above, saying installation has begun and that homes should be ready “by spring.” However, the council’s own project documents indicate a longer timeline: factory construction and site preparation were scheduled to begin in spring 2026, with on-site assembly in summer 2026 and completion in spring 2027.
Each home will come with high-performance insulation, solar panels and heat pumps. There’ll also be an on-site office for council housing staff. The site was chosen partly because it’s close to public transport, a supermarket and a children’s nursery — which, for families with nowhere to go, matters rather a lot.
All councillors voted unanimously to approve the scheme on 27 January 2026. It was first backed in principle in July 2025, when around 15 units were on the table — later trimmed to 12.
Funding and targets
The £4 million breaks down as:
- £2.2 million from the national Local Authority Housing Fund
- £1.4 million from council reserves
- Up to £1 million in developer contributions
Blue Bell Hill is part of a wider push to add 30 owned or managed temporary-accommodation units across the borough by March 2027, with the rest coming through long-term leases. The focus is on easing pressure in the north of the borough specifically.
With spring 2026 now passed, the council has not yet confirmed publicly whether factory construction and site preparation have been completed on schedule; the project’s on-site assembly phase was due to follow in summer 2026, with completion targeted for spring 2027.