A REDUNDANT church building in Kings Road could take on a new lease of life as Haslemere Community Land Trust’s(CLT) first affordable housing project.

Hammer-based 3 Counties Church has decided to put its Kings Road office building up for sale and expect to begin marketing in the autumn.

It has owned the property, which was previously home to Haslemere Methodist Church, since the 1970s,

It was a central hub for many years, but that has dwindled to only one or two small group meetings each week.

Dick Durrant, 3 Counties Church secretary,, said: “It became clear to the trustees in 2015 the building was effectively redundant and over the past couple of years they have been considering what options were open to the church.

“One is to market it as a community use building. We have also looked into the feasibility of obtaining residential use and converting it for affordable or other housing, but have come to no definite conclusions.

During that process we have held conversations with Haslemere (CLT),” he added.

“The trustees have to follow Charity Commission guidance on disposing of an asset. While a change to residential use may be possible, we do not have the resources to take it further and, following correspondence with the Charity Commission, the trustees are clear our only option at present is to market the property for community use.”

Haslemere CLT member Martin James said: “This represents an exciting opportunity. We believe if a change of use was agreed, and if the financial numbers worked, it could be converted into much-needed and genuinely affordable housing units.

“We are looking into the feasibility, with respect to funding, planning approval and community support.”