A FORMER residential care home which has stood empty for three years could be turned into affordable rented housing.

Sovereign Housing Association has lodged a planning application to demolish the former Deeside care home, in Alliston Way, South Ham, and replace it with 15 affordable rented homes.

Deeside closed in autumn 2014 as one of three care homes earmarked for closure by Hampshire County Council (HCC), which claimed it would have cost £2.3million to bring the facility up to modern standards.

The development would consist of two one-bedroom homes, 11 with two bedrooms and two three-bedroom homes in a mixture of terraced and semi-detached styles, along with 28 parking spaces.

Sovereign, which received planning consent in 2016 for the demolition of Deeside, had initially hoped to build 18 homes on the site but pre-planning application discussions with Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council (BDBC) reduced that number down to 15.

A Sovereign spokeswoman said: “We’re really pleased to be working with Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council on proposals for a new development on the former Deeside care home site in South Ham.

“Contracts for the land were exchanged in January 2016 and the purchase of the site is subject to receiving satisfactory planning permission.

“Following a consultation exercise with local residents and ward councillors, we’re trying to ensure that the new development also improves parking facilities for nearby residents.

“Currently there are no plans to demolish the existing building until planning has been secured.”

The application is due to be decided on by BDBC by February 21, 2018.

To view and comment on the plan, go to https://planning.basingstoke.gov.uk/online-applications/ and search using the code 17/03673/FUL.