FOI1243 – FOI request concerning Cranbury House and Kimber
House
I can confirm that Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust holds the information you requested:
1) What are the exact dates 4-5 Cranbury House, Cranbury Terrace Southampton closed
the first time when it housed men and women with mental health conditions.
Cranbury Terrace was a Mental Health Hostel that transferred to Social Care in June 2003 and was
commissioned by Southampton City Council Supporting People, linked to Atlantic Housing
(Registered Social Care Landlord) for them to turn it into 12 Flats for the people who were living
there - this happened around 12-18 months after the Trust took over.
The Trust then managed it until it was retendered and transferred to Richmond Fellowship on 13
September 2010, when the contract ended.
Cranbury House (a separate property and service) was owned by Southampton City Primary Care
Trust and then when this was dissolved (2011/12) the property transferred to Solent NHS Trust.
From the records held on file by this Trust, the files were sent to Solent NHS Trust in November
2015.
Therefore you will need to redirect this part of your request to:
Bernadette Cherry BSc MRICS
Head of Property
Solent NHS Trust
Western Community Hospital, William Macleod Way, Southampton SO16 4XE
Tel 023 8053 8764
M 07500 225533
2) What is the exact date 4-5 Cranbury House Cranbury Terrace Southampton opened
just for women with mental health conditions and the date it closed.
Cranbury Terrace never solely housed women.
The Trust then managed it until it was retendered and transferred to Richmond Fellowship on 13
September 2010, when the contract ended.
Cranbury House (a separate property and service) was owned by Southampton City PCT and then
when this was dissolved (2011/12) the property transferred to Solent NHS Trust.
From the records held on file by this Trust, the files were sent to Solent NHS Trust in November
2015.
Therefore you will need to redirect this part of your request to:
Freedom of Information, Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust
6 Sterne Road, Tatchbury Mount, Calmore, Hampshire, SO40 2RZ
Email: [email protected], Tel. (02380) 874662
Bernadette Cherry BSc MRICS
Head of Property
Solent NHS Trust
Western Community Hospital, William Macleod Way, Southampton SO16 4XE
Tel 023 8053 8764
M 07500 225533
3) What date did Kimber House in Eastleigh change over from being a hospital residence
to a care home?
The Trust sale file does not detail any change of use planning application and on the Eastleigh
Borough Council this is not listed either.
The property deeds for this sale were passed onto the new purchaser on 7th November 2014 to
YMCA of Fairthorne Group.
4) How many residents had a rent book and tenancy agreement at Kimber House and
had they all signed rent agreements?
Kimber House was a community mental health hostel until it was transferred to Social Care on 1
September 2003 and was due to be turned into five or six flats for independent living with all day
support for each tenant.
The tenants did pay rent for a period, which was paid from Housing Benefit claims submitted to
Eastleigh Borough Council and paid directly to the Trust, but we have no record of the existence of
any rent books.
Kimber House began as a community inpatient hostel for people with enduring mental health
illnesses. The service was primarily funded within the Adult Mental Health block contract with
Southampton Primary Care Trust and by Southampton City Council for one service user, with a
limited service specification. Over the years the service changed but there is not a clear audit trail
of how these changes were discussed and agreed. The audit trail is also complicated by the fact
that the work relating to Kimber house has been led over the years by different teams and
individuals within Southern Health.
In 2003 the service model at Kimber House changed to become a social care led service with mental
health support from professionals in community Adult Mental Health teams. Although the service
was not varied within the contract, individuals living at Kimber House were not inpatients, nor were
they residents within a registered care home. In terms of what was being delivered on a day to day
basis, the custom and practice position also supports a description of a supported living service.
This involved the people who lived at Kimber House being discharged as inpatients - which also
enabled them to claim welfare benefits appropriate to individuals living independently. The
intention was to support the people who lived at Kimber House to gain more independence, feel
more empowered to make decisions about how they lived and to gain confidence in living as
independently as possible in the future.
Service users at Kimber House were initially given assured short hold tenancy agreements naming
Hampshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (HPFT) as both the landlord and the managing agent.
In 2003, housing benefit claims to Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) were made and housing benefit
was paid to HPFT for many years.
Freedom of Information, Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust
6 Sterne Road, Tatchbury Mount, Calmore, Hampshire, SO40 2RZ
Email: [email protected], Tel. (02380) 874662
In 2009, an application for housing benefit from a new tenant resulted in Eastleigh Borough Council
reviewing the status of the tenancy agreements at Kimber House, when it was decided that they
were not entitled to claim housing benefit and as a result the Trust repaid all housing benefits back
to the local authority they had received to that date for all service users living at the property.
The residents never paid for any rent via any further housing benefit claims or personal income
sources and so the tenancy agreement ceased, with TQ21 meeting any additional costs.
HPFT agreed that Kimber House in its present condition would not fulfil the long term needs of the
service users living there and from November 2011 onwards re-provision plans were started to be
made and discussions were taking place in the hope of moving people onto more suitable
accommodation. This was because the majority of people living at Kimber House still associated
the house with the inpatient hostel it once was. It was also acknowledged within Southern Health
that the building was not ideal and would require considerable investment to maintain and
improve. In 2013 a property in the same road became available for private rent and the people
living at Kimber House requested that this be considered as an option for their future
accommodation. TQ21 supported the negotiation of this move and eventually (in May 2014) the
individuals moved to their new accommodation.
On the basis of services delivered at Kimber house being provided as supported living, individuals
made a fair and agreed contributions to a household kitty for food and contributed appropriately to
the costs of services (heat and light) for their bedrooms. This was not a large amount and consisted
of a maximum of £49 per week in 2014. The residents paid this from their personal benefits, with
TQ21 meeting any additional accommodation costs as required.
Freedom of Information, Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust
6 Sterne Road, Tatchbury Mount, Calmore, Hampshire, SO40 2RZ
Email: [email protected], Tel. (02380) 874662