News

In June 2021, on behalf of a private client, SHW completed the letting of this three-storey, 11,800 sq ft building to the medical / community use provider. Having been converted and used as office space until 2017, and from then standing vacant, the letting provided the catalyst to apply for planning consent to change the use from offices to a care/school facility with overnight accommodation.

SHW’s Peter Sylvester, who advised on the letting, reports that Worthing Borough Council’s Planning Committee were supportive of the plans to provide full planning and listed building consent for the new facility. He says: “Courtlands is a beautiful former mansion house, and we are thrilled to see it being brought back into use.

“It was a complicated letting on a multi-agency basis, but evidence that perseverance pays off. It is brilliant that SHW were able to facilitate Courtlands by the Sea Ltd’s backing for a scheme that provides such a significant community benefit – bringing the magnificent building back into use, enabling the repair and renovation of the heritage assets, and providing a much-needed care facility in Worthing.”

The approved proposals will provide a unique and outstanding residential care facility for children aged between 11 and 16 with learning difficulties, disabilities, and those on the autism spectrum.

The facility would accommodate a maximum of 23 children at one time with 10 staff members staying overnight, depending on the types of services the proposed users require and the complexity of cases. Additionally, the new scheme will provide support for the children in terms of teaching and learning and proposes four large multi-use classrooms to assist with the children’s educational development, which will be tailored on a case-specific basis.