Bromley Council is set to build 10 new homes on the site of the Castlecombe Youth Centre in Mottingham, aiming to provide affordable family housing and reduce the council's expenditure on temporary accommodation.
The decision was discussed at a meeting of the Renewal, Recreation and Housing Policy Development and Scrutiny Committee on Tuesday, 18 November 2025. The committee reviewed a Housing Delivery Update which requested authorisation for the appropriation of land for planning purposes, the submission of a planning application, and an additional £4.85 million spend to the Capital programme.
The proposed development includes eight three-bedroom homes and two two-bedroom homes. The council anticipates recouping a forgone capital receipt of £850,000 through annual savings after 12 years of occupation. This project aims to improve the lives of Bromley residents currently in poor quality temporary accommodation.
The youth service previously offered at the Castlecombe Youth Centre will be relocated to the adjacent Children and Family Centre, which is being extended to provide the necessary space, as well as space for the Mottingham Community Support Centre. The youth service and the Children and Family service operate at different times of day and therefore the site can be extended and adapted to enable both services to collocate. These works are being progressed by the Estates and Property team.
The projected timeline for the Castlecombe Youth Centre housing development is as follows:
- December 2025: Public Engagement
- February 2026: Submit Planning Application
- May 2026: Launch Tender for Main works contractor
- June 2026: Tender Closes and Evaluation
- July 2026: Contract Award for main contractor taken to committee
- August/September 2026: Works Start on site
- September 2027: Works Complete
The report also requested that the committee delegate authority to the Director of Housing, Planning, Property and Regeneration to approve the detailed procurement strategy and award the contract for the main works.
The project is part of Bromley Council's wider Housing Delivery Programme, aimed at increasing the supply of affordable housing in the borough. Other projects include the Bellegrove Housing Development, which recently secured planning permission for 68 social housing units, and the York Rise development, which has faced delays due to piling works.
The Housing Delivery Update noted that the council has been actively working to secure additional housing units through various means, including direct construction, acquisitions, and leasing agreements. The aim is to reduce reliance on nightly paid accommodation and provide more stable housing options for families in need.
However, the Housing, Planning and Regeneration Risk Register 2025-26, included as Appendix D to the HPR Portfolio Plan Update - 2025/26 Q2 Update, identifies several risks that could impact housing delivery. These include:
- Failure to deliver against Housing Financial Strategy
- Failure to deliver effective Housing Needs services
- Temporary Accommodation Inability to effectively manage the volume of people presenting themselves as homeless and the additional pressures placed on the homeless budgets. Rising cost of placements.
- Capital Grant Failure to deliver the Council's affordable housing strategy in support of statutory obligations Lack of infrastructure in place where growth is occurring
- Recruitment and Retention Failure to recruit and retain key skilled staff with suitable experience/qualifications
- Business Interruption / Emergency Planning Failure to provide Council services or statutory requirements of mass illness/fatalities scenario following a business interruption or emergency planning event
- Health & Safety (Fire and First Aid) Non compliance with legislation
- Deleterious Materials Discovery of Deleterious Materials in the construction and fit out of properties owned or occupied by the Council.
- Data Collections Failure to undertake statutory statistical data collections; including key housing and planning information, thereby adversely affecting government grant allocations and performance assessments
- Financial Performance Failure to reach expected income through rental income and property disposal
- Contractor Performance Failure to deliver facilities management service
- Capital Financing Shortfall Risk of significant costs increase in the Capital Programme and possible reductions in proceeds from disposals could impact on the Council's ability to fully fund the Capital programme
- Operational Property Repair The OPR Programme cannot be delivered to budget and within programme
- Operational Property Repair Buildings within the OPR Programme fail prior to commencement of works
- Property Assets Insurance Policy Failure
- Outreach Service Failure to provide service in Cotmandene and Mottingham
- Vitality and Prosperity of Town Centres Failure of town centres to attract footfall and spend for retail and leisure opportunties
- Capital Schemes Failure to deliver housing schemes
- Leisure Centres Failure to facilitate and enable the provision of leisure centre services
- Library Service Failure to provide statutory library service
- Planning Service Failure to deliver statutory requirements related to planning
- Community Infrastructure Levy Failure to collect and spend local CIL and use for local infrastructure
- Section 106 Agreements Failure to complete S106 agreements for affordable housing
- London Plan Failure to deliver level of housing in Bromley contained in Mayor of London's plan
- Homes for Ukraine and other Refugee programmes Inability to effectively manage the volume of people, including unaccompanied minors who may present as homeless due to cessation of sponsor accommodation, safeguarding concerns and the resulting additional pressures placed on the homeless budgets and Children's Social Care and Adults Social Care
