Anyone interested in renting one of these new homes should contact Mole Valley District Council’s Housing team and get on their housing register.
Brockham Village
The Poland Trust
The Poland Trust
A charity created through the generosity of Sidney Michael Poland
The Poland Trust is a registered charity and a member of the Almshouse Association. The primary aim of the charity is to help people with a connection to Brockham, Betchworth, Buckland or Leigh who are in need, hardship or distress. In addition to Poland House in Kiln Lane and the nearby Poland Woods, the Trust has a fund to help individuals and organisations in the community such as BERT, the Strood Green store, Brockham Village Hall and Brockham Bowls Club.
Sidney Michael Poland lived at The Manor, at the western end of Kiln Lane, in the early part of the last century. He was an extremely generous benefactor to the residents of Brockham, particularly the children. When he died in 1936 he left significant funds and property for the benefit of the people of the village, which became available on the death of his sister Rosina in the early 1950’s leading to the creation of The Poland Trust.
The Manor was demolished and much of the land fronting on to Kiln Lane was sold, leaving land at the eastern end as the site for the new Poland House which was built in 1958, with two later wings, Pedell and Betchworth.
When the charity was formed, those members of the community in greatest need, tended to be older residents who were struggling to find appropriate homes for their retirement. In recent years, it has become apparent that those in greatest need are often younger and for various reasons, they are unlikely to ever be able to live in Brockham or Betchworth because of the very high property prices.
Poland Meadow
After more than a decade of searching for a suitable site, we have now been able to build Poland Meadow. With land generously gifted to The Poland Trust by a local family, 12 homes have been constructed and 12 individuals and families are now living in these homes. We ask for a contribution equivalent to to 60% of market rents and priority is given to those people in greatest need. All residents have to have a strong connection to the parishes of Brockham and Betchworth.
The scheme also includes the sale of 5 plots to local families to build their own homes. Future sales of these houses will be capped at a discount to open market values and priority will be given to local buyers. The proceeds from the sale of these plots helped fund the overall project.
The Poland Trust has worked in partnership with Mole Valley District Council to deliver this project. MVDC’s housing team will be responsible for selecting tenants in greatest need using criteria agreed with The Poland Trust. MVDC has also provided a significant grant to help fund the overall scheme.
This is a unique concept to create affordable housing to meet local needs enabling local people to remain in Brockham and Betchworth.
Anthony West House
Brockham Housing Trust is a charity which was created to provide accommodation for local older people at Anthony West House in Wheelers Lane.
The trustees of Brockham Housing Trust manage the property and ensure that the residents can live in safe and comfortable surroundings. Unfortunately, Brockham Housing Trust found it increasingly difficult to recruit new trustees with the appropriate skills to fill the growing number of trustee vacancies and therefore decided that it had to find an alternative way to manage Anthony West House.
On this basis, Brockham Housing Trust approached The Poland Trust and we are delighted to announce that, after detailed discussions, both charities have agreed in principle that Brockham Housing Trust will transfer ownership and management of Anthony West House to The Poland Trust and we are hopeful that this transfer will be completed later in the summer.
The charitable objectives of both charities are almost identical and both are focussed on helping people in need in Brockham and the surrounding communities. As a result, we do not expect there to be any significant changes for the residents of Anthony West House or Poland House as a result of this arrangement. We are also pleased that Pam Hammond will become a trustee of The Poland Trust to provide continuity for the Anthony West House residents.
