£438,000 of the council's £1m housing fund was already committed or spent. Where the other £562,000 goes, and the £280,000 family home it is buying.
Chichester District Council has now said how it will spend the £1 million it set aside for homelessness and housing. But not all of that £1m is new.
Councillors agreed the allocations at full Council on Tuesday 22 September. The council’s own announcement describes a £1m budget. The Cabinet report behind the vote shows that £438,000 of it was already committed or spent before this month.
That leaves £562,000 of newly allocated money, spread over two years.
Where the £1m goes
The money was first reserved at full Council in February 2025, to back the council’s Housing, Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy 2025 to 2030. The strategy was adopted in May 2025. Section 5.1 of the Cabinet report splits the £1m like this:
| What it pays for | 2026-27 | 2027-28 |
|---|---|---|
| Pinewood House temporary accommodation | £300,000 | none |
| Top-up to the homelessness prevention fund | £100,000 | £100,000 |
| Tenancy support for people in temporary accommodation | £50,000 | £50,000 |
| Grants to help residents improve their homes and energy ratings | £126,000 | £126,000 |
| Housing Matters roadshows | £5,000 | £5,000 |
| Total | £581,000 | £281,000 |
A further £138,000 was spent in 2025-26 on the home improvement grants. Add that to the two years above and the total is exactly £1,000,000.
Two items were settled before this vote:
- Pinewood House, £300,000. This went to Cabinet in its own report in May 2025.
- £138,000 already spent on home improvement grants in 2025-26.
The new spending is:
- £200,000 over two years to top up the fund used to stop people losing their homes.
- £252,000 over two years for grants to help residents improve their homes. The council says the aim is to raise Energy Performance Certificate ratings and cut carbon where it can.
- £100,000 over two years for “tenancy sustainment and tenancy ready” work with people living in temporary accommodation.
- £10,000 over two years for the Housing Matters roadshows.
Councillors also handed the Divisional Manager for Housing, Revenues and Benefits the power to move money between these headings. The report says any unspent money will be “repurposed” to the strategy’s other aims, and that the plan “takes account of the local government reorganisation timeline”.
What Pinewood House is
Pinewood House is on the Graylingwell site in the north-east of Chichester, near the old water tower. The council’s project page says it was built in 1932 to house nurses at Graylingwell Hospital, and was later student accommodation for the University of Chichester until summer 2024.
The council plans to use it as short-stay accommodation with 51 bedrooms. It says there would be a 24-hour staff presence on site, an office for support workers and a room to meet clients. The project page describes the lease as “subject to planning permission being granted”.
A £280,000 family home on the same agenda
The same Council meeting was asked to approve a house purchase for homeless families.
The council is buying homes under Round 4 of the government’s Local Authority Housing Fund. The Cabinet report of 1 September sets out the numbers:
- The government grant for this round is £1,622,328.
- Cabinet agreed in May 2026 to put in up to £325,000 of council money towards four homes.
- An offer of £280,000 has been accepted, subject to contract, on a three-bedroom freehold semi-detached house.
- A four-bedroom terraced house is also being looked at.
The purchase needed Council’s approval because it is over the £250,000 limit officers can spend alone. The report says no extra money is being asked for, and that the council is committed to not placing families in nightly paid accommodation for more than six weeks.
One detail does not match. The Cabinet report asks for authority to buy future homes at up to £300,000 each. The Council agenda for 22 September puts the figure at £350,000. The minutes of the meeting are not yet published, so we cannot yet say which figure was agreed.
What it means for you
If you are worried about losing your home, contact the council’s housing team early. The prevention fund exists to help before an eviction, not after. The council’s homeless applications page is the starting point.
If you own your home or rent privately and it needs repairs or better insulation, the grants are funded for two more years. Ask the council’s housing standards team what you qualify for.
The next Housing Matters event is a larger “Housing Matters Plus” session at North Hall, Loxwood, on Tuesday 13 October, 2pm to 6pm, the council says. Age UK, the DWP and West Sussex Fire and Rescue are among the organisations due to attend. Loxwood is about 20 miles north-east of Chichester.
Council tax for your band is on our Chichester council tax bands page.
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