Fossetts for the People

Campaigners want to ensure former NHS land is used for publicly owned social housing.

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Fossetts for the People (FFTP) is a campaign set up by community activists, with the support of the New Economics Foundation, to champion the building of publicly owned social housing in Southend.

A site at Fossetts Farm in Southend was formerly owned by the NHS, who planned to build a new medical centre. When these plans were abandoned, the site was sold in August 2018 to Homes England. The developer paid only £7.8 million for the site, but FFTP claims that with planning permission for residential homes the true value of the land could exceed £40 million.

Southend is suffering from a lack of good quality, affordable social housing. FFTP was set up to demand that the council use the land for social housing, which would provide much needed homes for Southend residents, and would bring revenue to the cash-strapped council. The group say that 400 new homes could be built on the 14-acre site through a publicly owned Local Housing Company.

The campaign says: ​“Over the last decade, house prices in the borough have shot up by around 50%, meaning many local people and families have been priced out of the housing market. With a dire shortage of good quality, affordable private rental properties in the town and a very long waiting list for council properties, Southend Borough Council could utilise this land to build in the region of 400 new homes.”

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