Approval tipped for plans to build more than 50 homes at former hospital site in Portsmouth

Plans to build more than 50 homes at the site of the former St James’ Hospital in Southsea, Portsmouth, have been recommended for approval.Mission Town Planning Ltd, on behalf of Vistry Southern, is seeking planning permission to deliver 58 houses on the five-acre site off Locksway Road.The area is unmanaged and unkempt, with the foundation remaining of a former modern school that once occupied the northern part of the site fenced off from the rest of the site. The undeveloped areas of the site are grassed, which is long and unmanaged.The proposal seeks to redevelop the site to provide 58 new residential units with associated landscaping, parking, cycling and refuse storage. Of the 58 new residential units proposed, 31 per cent (18 units) are intended to be affordable housing.The proposed development would comprise a mixture of two-storey pitched roof detached, semi-detached and terraced blocks.The application has been recommended for approval with Portsmouth City Council’s planning committee set to make a final decision on 5 February 2025.