West Sussex win for Crest Nicholson

National regeneration agency English Partnerships (EP) now has a preferred developer on board to deliver the £25m-plus revamp of a former workhouse site in West Sussex.

Crest Nicholson has been lined up to tackle the redevelopment of the Steyning workhouse in Shoreham.

EP bought the 4.38ha site late in 2006 and 0.58ha of it has been reserved to build a 60-bed care home for the county council.

There are also plans to build 200 new homes, 30% of which will come under the 'affordable' banner, on the rest of the site.

And there are further plans to integrate community facilities into the overall scheme.

Crest Nicholson is expected to be formally appointed as the scheme's developer early this spring and work on site will kick off next year.

In making its appointment, EP said it had "placed great emphasis on proposals that demonstrated a commitment to construction quality, energy efficiency, sustainability and experience of community engagement".