HAMPSHIRE County Council has said a move away from ‘shared living’ accommodation resulted in the closure of a Winchester hostel.

As previously reported, A2Dominion’s supported housing in City Road has been boarded up and set to go on the market after the provider said it was surplus to requirements.

It said that the site was empty at the start of the pandemic and then was used to house the homeless, but now those people have been moved to alternative accommodation.

The site has also been affected by a redirection in how the county council house children and young people who are being supported by Children’s Services.

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Executive lead member for children’s services, Cllr Roz Chadd said: “The county council regularly reviews the services it commissions to ensure the best possible outcomes for the individuals we support, and this includes services such as accommodation placements for children and young people who are being supported by Children’s Services.

“In recent years and following an extensive analysis of placements of young people in Hampshire, Children’s Services found that the most effective way to support young people who have medium to low needs to thrive and develop the greatest possible level of independence, is to accommodate them in ‘supported lodgings’, where young people live with a host in the host’s own home.

“The county council has therefore decreased its provision of ‘shared living’ accommodation – which is where several young people who are supported by Children’s Services would have their own rooms and shared facilities, such as City Road in Winchester – and is instead focusing on increasing the availability of supported lodgings accommodation, to help improve outcomes for the individuals we support.”

City Road was recently at the centre of an enquiry after a 17-year-old took her own life there.

An inquest into the death of Kesia Waller heard a wealth of issues surrounding staff and care at the supported housing. The teenager was found hanging on January 25, 2020.