Plans are progressing for six affordable homes on part of Compton recreation ground, for people with a local connection to the parish, to be let in perpetuity. The scheme is being developed by Hastoe Housing Association, working with Compton Parish Council and the Compton Affordable Housing Group.
The development
The scheme will provide six homes: two 3-bedroom, two 2-bedroom and two 1-bedroom houses, on a small site between the tennis courts and the road. The site was chosen by Compton Parish Council after private landowners were unable to offer suitable land, and was approved by the local community in two separate rounds of consultation, most recently in 2025.
The recreation ground itself is not being reduced in size — the land used for housing is being swapped for an equivalent area along the eastern boundary, currently rented to a local farmer, under an agreement with Fields in Trust (who hold the recreation ground in trust for the parish).
Design
The South Downs National Park Authority (SDNP) has approved a pre-application for the scheme, and the architects (mh Architects) are finalising detailed plans in line with the SDNP’s landscape-led design requirements. The materials shown in early images — red brick with tiled roofs — are not yet final; many residents have asked for flint facing on the front elevations to match the local vernacular, though cost will be a factor in the final decision.
These are preliminary sketches and could change prior to finalisation and submission of the planning application.
Timeline
- Pre-application approval — granted by SDNP
- Ground investigations — completed, including 12 months of groundwater monitoring
- Public exhibition — held July 2026, with the Chichester District Council rural housing enabler on hand to advise
- Planning application — to be submitted to SDNP before November 2026
- Land sale to Hastoe — expected by November 2027, once planning consent is granted
- New play area — Hastoe and the Parish Council will jointly fund relocated play equipment and a new play area elsewhere on the recreation ground; the Recreation Ground Committee is also fundraising
Have your say
Once SDNP formally publishes the planning application, residents will be able to comment via the SDNP Planning Portal, as with any planning application. Details will be shared here and in the Octagon magazine when the application goes live.
Background: how we got here
This project began around 20 years ago, when Chichester District Council first proposed affordable housing for Compton and Stoughton. After a search for suitable private land was unsuccessful, Compton Parish Council offered part of the recreation ground — land bequeathed to the parish in 1951 by the Green family, having previously belonged to the Reckitt family of the Littlegreen estate. The Compton Affordable Housing Group, a Parish Council sub-group formed in the early 2000s, has worked since then with successive partners to bring the scheme forward. Because affordable, local housing has become steadily scarcer in the parish over the decades, the group’s aim throughout has been homes that are genuinely affordable and reserved for people with a local connection.
Keep up to date
Updates on the project are shared regularly at Parish Council meetings, on this website, and in the Octagon magazine. See the latest project updates for the full history of news on this scheme.
Compton Affordable Housing Group — chaired by Ranjit Verghese
