FUNDS from a scrapped housing scheme could be used to cover rising costs to spruce up a former Windsor bed and breakfast.

Senior Royal Borough councillors have been recommended to spend an extra £490,000 in order to refurbish Cedar Tree in St Leonards Road, Windsor into seven flats to provide temporary accommodation for the homeless as construction works have ‘significantly grown’ due to inflation.

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The nearly half a million pounds will be transferred from the abandoned Ray Mill Road East project, which was a joint venture between the council and developer CALA Homes to build 80 homes, nearly 50 per cent of which were affordable, at Deerswood Meadow. The scheme has since been withdrawn by CALA Homes and the site could become a pocket park.

The vacant 10-bedroom property was bought on auction in May 2021 for a winning bid of £1.2m and was used to house the homeless since the first lockdown in March 2020.

A planning application to convert the B&B into eight flats has been submitted. However, a revised plan will soon be submitted for seven studio apartments to ease concerns about its impact on the character of the local area.

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Senior councillors will also be presented with two other options on what to do with Cedar Tree at a cabinet meeting on Thursday, August 25.

Option B includes using the £490,000 to convert the property into three apartments for key workers. Another choice, which officers do not recommend, is to sell it as a refurbished family house for £1.15m.