AROUND £400,000 could be spent on helping bring two neglected Bridgwater properties back into use as affordable housing.

At its meeting on Wednesday (February 5) Sedgemoor District Council's Executive committee is due to discuss putting £400,000 towards helping redevelop the former Helibeds showroom on Monmouth Street, as well as the former Three Crowns pub on St Mary's Street.

With Bridgwater residents facing pressures in the housing market, Sedgemoor District Council approved a £1m 'affordable housing enabling budget' to support the delivery of these sorts of projects.

A total of £100,000 is suggested to go toward the Helibeds showroom scheme, to support the landlord deliver 10 affordable rented units, with the total scheme cost estimated at £1.4m.

In a report prepared for the meeting, Duncan Harvey, Sedgemoor's housing development manager, writes: "The Council’s Housing Development Team have been trying to move this project forward for five years, and the former empty Helibeds showroom is now showing negative signs associated with empty properties.

"The former empty Helibeds showroom sits on the main A38 in the heart of Bridgwater, however finding a developer to pick up the site has proved problematic until now.

"The site will provide 10 self-contained flats, five new flats with the conversion of the Helibeds site on the ground floor and five currently occupied flats on the first floor."

If approved, it is hoped work will start on site in March this year, with a view to being completed by March 2021.

The Executive committee will also be looking at whether to approve £300,000 to support Abracore Ltd in delivering 14 new dwellings at the former Three Crowns pub on St Mary Street.

It is estimated the total cost of the scheme is £1.2m, and would provide low cost one and two bedroom flats.

In his report Mr Harvey states: "The empty former Three Crowns on St. Mary’s Street as sat empty for a long time and remains a physical blight in the heart of Bridgwater.

"The owner of the property has been working with the Housing Development Team since 2008 to try to bring this project forward offering much-needed smaller units of home ownership accommodation in the heart of Bridgwater."

In December 2019 the project received the backing of the Housing Programme Board, and the plan is for the flats to be sold at 80 per cent market value to the initial purchaser - enabling first-time buyers to get on the housing ladder.

If given the green light, work will start on site in February 2020, with the project due to be complete in January 2021.