Former council offices are being turned into flats.

Homes England has given Worthing Borough Council £400,000 towards the costs of the project to convert the council’s empty offices at 24 Marine Place into five one-bedroom and studio flats.

Well over 200 households from Worthing are currently having to be housed away from the town at great cost because of a “severe” shortage of social housing, the council said.

It has seen an increase in the number of people coming to it for help because there is no space for them with relatives or friends, or because they have been evicted by their landlord.

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The council is looking for sites across the borough where it can build its own temporary accommodation as well as privately owned local properties that could be used to house these residents plus others who are on its housing list.

A council spokesman said: “While some are staying in flats or houses in other parts of West Sussex, some are having to be housed outside the county - many miles away from their jobs, their children’s schools and their families and friends.

“It costs us an average of £9,150 a year for every household in temporary or emergency accommodation and this price continues to rise. Placing five people in the Marine Place flats could save the council more than £45,000 per year as well as giving the citizens a more stable environment to live in.”

It is hoped that the first tenants will be able to move into the new flats by summer 2025.