Southend Council has come under fire for not seeking Government permission over the future of 441 local authority homes.

The council homes, mostly in tower blocks in Queensway, are set to be demolished for a £500million town centre development.

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The council has announced it is working in partnership with Swan Housing Association to build 1,600, with many classed as “affordable”.

However Independent councillors say the permission should have been sought from the Secretary of State before such an agreement was made.

The council tenants currently on the site have been assured if they wish to remain in the Queensway development they can do so under their existing rental arrangements.

The Independents say they believe this element of social housing will be lost when these tenancy come to an end and could be replaced with affordable housing tenancy based on private rents in the area – and out of the reach of the poorest in the town.

The development came up for discussion at last week’s full council meeting.

Brian Ayling, Independent councillor for St Luke’s ward said: “We discussed the Queensway development plans and the administration were surprised to be questioned as to why no permission had been asked for or given for the appropriation of 441 Social Housing units from the Secretary State. This permission requirement was known in 2015 but our council, took no action and continued to negotiate with a partner for the biggest development ever in Southend which will involve so many town centre residents.

“The implications, of not obtaining the Secretary of State’s approval leaves local Councillor’s, possibly facing legal action and the implications for legal action by the preferred partner, if permission is not obtained, are huge.”

Asked what would happen if Government agreement wasn’t obtained after so many years of planning and consequent expense, the council said “that is just the way the national process works”.

James Courtenay, cabinet member for growth, said: “I was very pleased that Swan Housing Association were approved as our preferred bidder at full council. We are now working towards signing contracts with them in the spring and creating the joint venture partnership that will take the project forwards. This will then enable a detailed scheme to be developed and a planning application submitted.

“As I made clear at full council, there is an order in which we must do things, and at this point in time there is no Secretary of State approval to be obtained because the scheme has not yet been developed, finalised or submitted for planning consent.

“The approval of the Secretary of State will be applied for at the appropriate time and securing it will be a contractual condition.”