Residents in an independent living community will lose access to communal spaces and privileges as Nottingham City Council will adapt the location to house homeless families.
Sketchley Court is an independent living community in Bulwell.
This means that residents live without a full-time carer, but there are communal facilities and dedicated staff members to support residents in case any support is needed.
Twenty-two of 26 homes are full.
Nottingham City Council decided on Tuesday 20 May that Sketchley Court would be turned from an independent living community to temporary accomodation for the homeless.
While the council is not forcing any current resident to move should they not wish to, they will lose access to the communal spaces they have been used to.
The reaction from residents has been mixed.
Steven Bradley moved in to Sketchley Court 12 years ago, and says he is “happy to be moving on.”
“I’ve got daughters in Kirkby I want to be closer to. I was looking to move out anyway,” he added.
Nine-year resident Ray Kendrick said: “I’ve never really liked it here. It’s not much of a community for me.
“I’ve got faith that the council will find somewhere else for me. They’ve assured us of that and I’ll take their word for it.
“They haven’t done anything underhanded. They’ve opened discussions up, talked to the people.
“All questions were answered.”
But others have not received the news so well.
Colin Lambert has been living in Sketchley Court for eight years.
When he heard of the proposals, his initial reaction was confusion.
“If they’ve got empty flats for us to go into, why aren’t they putting the homeless in those empty flats?” he said.
“Say a family have got three children. How are they going to fit in a one-bedroom flat?”
On life in Sketchley Court, he said: “I think it’s alright here. It’s peaceful.
“One or two of us have had a bit of an argument but we all know each other.
“We’ve got a communal room, and we do have meetings in there.”
By putting the homeless up in Sketchley Court as opposed to temporary stays in hotels, the council estimates it will save more than £700,000 a year.
