The Rotary Club of Hove Community Housing Society Ltd was registered as a Housing Association with Charitable Status in 1958(Registered number 15012R)

The intention was to provide housing and associated amenities for persons of limited means, within the area of the Rotary Club of Hove. In practice, all tenants were female until two years ago when it was opened up for dual gender.

The first Honorary Secretary was Robbie Kingston and the Chairman was Charles Cutress. The other members were Bill Smith-Vice Chairman, E.P.Tong-Hon Treasurer, F.W.Bedford, Leslie Bunker, Eric Marchant, Ken Morgan, and Harold Paris.

The Rotary Club of Hove holds ten £1 shares, and each member of the Management Committee one share, other members of the Club can purchase a share.

The newly incorporated company was funded by £300, being the balance of the Rotary Club’s 1953 Coronation Fund, and a grant of £50 towards administration expences.

The first property to be acquired was 4 Selbourne Road in 1958, at a cost of £3,750. A thirty year loan (5% fixed interest) was raised for £2,700, and the balance, together with a further £3,700 for conversion costs, less £1,540 improvement grant from the Local authority, was raised from Rotary Club members by the means of Loan Stock and donations.

The converted 11 flatlets and community room were opened by Lord Gage, President of the National Federation of Housing Societies, on 13^th January 1959.

Subsequently, in 1966, the underused community room was converted into an additional flatlet.

In July 1961, the Society was bequeathed 2 Wilbury Road, valued at £5,500, and contents and shares valued at a further £9000, by the late Grace Taylor, on condition that the property be converted on similar lines to 4 Selbourne Road. The property was named after the generous benefactress. Conversion costs of £10,000 produced 14 flatlets, partially met by a further donation by Smith’s Charity, Kensington Estate, and improvement grant of £3,960.

In December 1963, 17 Palmeira Avenue was purchased for £8,150. A further £11,500 for conversion cost resulted in 12 flatlets with communal bathrooms and toilets. A further improvement grant of £4,800 was received from the then Hove Borough Council.

The next step forward came in 1977 when 24 Pembroke Avenue was aquired from the Alex Clarke’s Club for Elderly Persons, at a nominal sum of £5,000.

The following year, the property was converted into 5 self contained flats at a cost of £29,000, partly financed by an improvement grant of £10,663.

The Society now owned 43 flats and flatlets in four locations, albeit that many were bedsitters with shared facilities.

1979 saw the standing down after 22 years as Honorary Secretary or Chairman, of Robbie Kingston, one of the original movers of the Society.

In 1982, the Society received £9,352, being 50% of the interest on investments from R.E.Henesy Trust, which was to be paid every five years. In 1987, £16,620 was received, and in 1992, £20.000. This major bequest has, and will continue, to provide a major source of income, enabling the Society to further extend its activities. To commemorate the benefactor, the Pembroke Avenue property was renamed The R.E. Henesy and Alex Clarke House.

In 1983, the Society decided on a major change of direction, prompted by the Chairman Eric Marchant, and Secretary Peter Harries-Rees. Instead of the emphasis being on aquiring properties, the decision was to upgrade the various bedsitters and the one bedroom flats, into self-contained units with their own kitchen and bathroom facilities.

To enable these improvements to be carried out, it was decided in 1984 to charge the tenants "fair rents", as determined by the Rent officer, particularly as the majority of tenants would qualify for Housing Benefits. The actual rents charged at the time were considerably less than the "fair rents".

In 1985, 4 Wilbury Road, the other half of the Society’s semi-detached 2 Wilbury Road was purchased for £51,000. Conversion work enabled 23 self-contained flats to be created out of Nos.2 and 4, at a cost of £135,000.

To assist in financing this programme of conversations, 4 Selbourne Road, the least satisfactory of the Society’s properties, was sold in 1987 for £104,644, and this also enabled onerous bank loans to be paid off.

The same year saw the receipt of a bequest from the late Dr. Eva Graves, sister of Norman Grave, a former member of the Rotary Club of Hove, amounting to £56,250 in shares and £7,000 in cash. Thia was used in the refurbishment of 2 and 4 Wilbury Road, and a commemorative plaque was installed on the premises in 1988.

With the flat conversions in 2 and 4 Wilbury Road virtually completed in 1989, the property was renamed The Grace Taylor and Leslie Bunker House, Leslie having been founder member of the Society, and a Past President of R.I.B.I. and the Rotary Club of Hove.

It was then decided to upgrade Palmeira Lodge, at an estimated cost of £100,000. The number of units provided were then reduced from 12 to 8, tenants being rehoused in other Society flats as required.

The late Phyllis Adames, widow of Tom Afames, a former member of the Rotary Club of Hove, died in 1991. She bequeathed a quarter of the residue of her estate to the Society, which produced almost £48,000.

In 1993, the Society was fortunate to be the sole legatee of the late Miss. J.M.Dilley(neice of a former Mayor of Hove), whose estate was valued at £174,815.

It was decided to use part of these moneys to install a lift in 2 and 4 Wilbury Road, and to further upgrsde the fire precautions at an estimated cost of £70,000, although a further unit would be lost.

The balance of the Miss. J.M.Dilley bequest was used in 1995 to substantially finance the purchase of 30/30a Sackville Road, which had been used as student accomadation. The price was £150,000 and conversion cost would be £120,000 to produce 4 self-contained units in number 30, and 3 in number 30a. The flats were occupied in 1996 and opened by the late Counselor Leslie Hamilton(Mayor of Hove) and R.I.B.I president Noel Fryer. Sadly Robbie Kingston was unable to attend due to ill health. Attempts to stop the development by a neighbour were defeated in the County Court and cost awarded against him.

30 Sackville Road was named Margaret Dilley House after the benefactress, and 30a Sackville Road was named Robbie Kingston House after the founder member whose idea It was to start the Society.

By March 1996, the Society owned 42 modernised self-contained flats on four sites, valued at approximately £1.25 million pounds, with an annual income of over £110,000 and no dept. As surpluses arise, the Society will continue to seek further suitable properties to extend Rotary involvement in Community Housing.

The Society has come a long way from the humble origins of the initial £350 funding in 1958, and is very grateful to all those whose efforts and philanthropic bequests have made this possible.

The Society is always looking for new members from the Rotary Club of Hove to take an interest in the affairs of the Community Housing Society and also the various events run for the benefit of our tenants.

We continue to seek new properties suitable for our needs now that we are in the 21^st Century, the times have not changed for some even now in 2002.

The Present